


Black Sugar (rewritten)

by imessedupmylastone



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Chaotic evil in the sheets, Gangs, Happy Ending, Humor, I changed the killer, Lawful evil in the streets, Multi, Murder, Murder Mystery, No one Major Dies, Rewrite, Rewrite of my original story, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-19 13:02:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14874239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imessedupmylastone/pseuds/imessedupmylastone
Summary: “Allow me to introduce myself.” He spoke in a sort of sigh. “My name’s Mickey Milkovich. Also known as Mikhailo Milkovich.” Ian’s eyes widened a little, and the words he wanted to speak got stuck in his throat. He paused, looking at the room of people around him, suddenly realizing just what he got himself into.“You mean… like the gang leader?” Ian tried. Mickey nodded once, and Ian suddenly felt like he was going to be sick.





	1. One.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So I did decide to rewrite this story, but I changed quite a few things so don't worry it will be different too. The killer has also changed, so you can all try to figure that out again, and I look forward to your comments and feedback!  
> much love  
> -Misha

A cold and frigid wind whistled in through the crack of the ware house door. It was located under a large abandoned building in the south side of Chicago. The area was known for its large gang activity and could often be ground to numerous methods of torture. A man, sitting in the middle of the warehouse was all too familiar with this information, which sent a chill up his spine. He was tied to a chair, his arms and legs bound by one of the many gangs that had used this specific spot in the past. The chair he was in was stained with the blood of past victims, and the floor smelt far too much of bleach for his liking. It was here that he found himself staring into the eyes of two men. 

The first was taller, with shaggy brown hair that hung in his eyes. He hung back, not getting directly involved with the man, but he helped in his own way. He seemed to have a habit of talking to himself or whistling a tune that was just a bit too happy for the situation they were all in. The other man was nothing like this. He was quiet, but he held a seriousness in his eyes that could strike fear into people. He was short, with black hair that stood out against his pale skin. He just kept pacing, looking over weapons on a table that was pushed into a dark corner of the room, which it self wasn’t lit by much more than a single light bulb. 

“Tell you what,” the shorter man spoke in a voice that projected itself in the large empty room, “I can make this easy on you if you cooperate with me.” He hadn’t turned away from the table, but his tone alone was enough to make the man in the seat gulp just a bit.

“I don’t know what you mean.” The man tried, his voice shaking. The shorter man laughed, turning his attention away from the table at last, and slowly walking towards the man in the chair.

“Funny, because I happen to know that you do. My money. I want it. I was a generous man, I gave Stewart enough time to figure his shit out and get me everything he owed me, but it’s time to pay up. Funny enough, it seems Stewart has… disappeared.” The man made a small gesture with his hands to emphasize his point. “I think that you know where he is.” 

“I don’t know nothing about Stewart.” The man in the chair mumbled. A small pause came to the whistling that was caused by the brown-haired boy as he shook his head in disappointment. 

“Look, I’m trying to make this easy on you,” the black-haired boy continued, “tell me where he is, and I’ll let you walk outta here alive. Don’t tell me, and I’m afraid that this is not going to be a very good day for you.” He leaned forward, placing his hands on the chair’s arm rests, close enough so the man sitting could see every detail of his face. “Last chance.”

“I don’t know.” The man whispered, his voice rising a few octaves as he spoke. 

“Wrong choice.” The man pulled away, walking to the table and grabbing a long knife off of it. He moved to the man’s side, pausing for a short moment. “I want you to only think of one thing for the rest of our time together. I want you to remember my name. As you scream for someone, anyone to help you, I want you to remember the name ‘Milkovich.’” He raised the knife into the air, bringing it down hard enough to separate the man’s hand from his arm with a crunch, which was cut short by the piercing screams that started.

 

-

 

“You got a light?” Mickey mumbled as him and his brother exited the warehouse, Iggy carrying any weapon the had with them in a duffle-bag. The Milkovich family had this stuff down to an art at this point, discarding a body that is. They’d known about the methods of getting rid of someone since before they knew how to do basic math. It was the Milkovich way. 

“Yeah,” Iggy nodded and reached into his jacket pocket for the lighter that sat in them. It was the middle of October in Chicago, and it was already freezing. Mickey always believed that he was meant to be born in a warmer area, one that was burdened by harsh winters and cool temperatures. “Hey, you wonna make a run over to get coffee? You’re shivering like a damn chihuahua man.”

“Fuck off,” Mickey rolled his eyes and placed the cigarette between his teeth, “you don’t want coffee anyways.” Iggy had been dragging his brother to some small coffee shop a few blocks away for a few months now. It wasn’t like either of them were very into coffee, but Iggy was an expert at pinning after people. He’d stopped by on a whim when they opened and had been trying to get at the red-headed Russian that ran tha place. He hadn’t gotten very far either, and it was Mickey that seemed to be paying the price for it. 

“Come on man, I won’t even get something expensive.” Iggy nudged Mickey’s arm a little.

“Fine.” He held up the lighter, clicking it so a small flame lit the end of the cigarette, “but you’re killing my wallet.”

“You can’t be that mad,” Iggy shrugged, “you’re getting a warm drink out of this.”

“Yeah but I have to watch your sorry butt strike out every time. Honestly, isn’t it time to move on? You can do a lot better if you’re just looking for a hook up.” 

“It’s more than that though. I want to listen to every word she says. I want to be around her all the time. I’m hooked on this girl and I barely know anything about her.” Iggy was smiling, watching his own feet as they walked across the snowy ground. “You’ll understand when you develop human emotions.”

“Watch it, I can still express annoyance and kick your ass.” Mickey and Iggy turned, walking towards the café on the end of the street. It was a two-story place, but the shop was on the lower floor. Mickey assumed this meant that the owner lived above it. It was one of those places that stood out from the rest of the area. It felt… homey. 

“All I’m saying is I haven’t seen you with an actual girl in forever. It’d be nice to see you put yourself out there more. Maybe you’ll find someone you actually want to be with.” Mickey glanced at his brother out of the side of his eyes and gave a small sigh. He loved his siblings, but he never felt like he could be himself around any of them but Mandy, and even then, she didn’t bring up the elephant in the room. Mickey would never settle down with a girl. He had never even wanted to be with a girl, but that was harder to avoid when his dad was alive. After he finally died in an accident a while back, Mickey felt a little less restrained, and stopped dating all together. It was easier that way than being out in the kind of neighborhood they lived in. 

“I don’t need someone to make me happy,” Mickey mumbled, taking a drag of his cigarette before pulling open the large door to the café. Behind the counter was the red-head Iggy had been so infatuated with for the past few months. Even Mickey had to admit it was kind of sweet watching how his brother’s face lit up when he saw the girl. She looked up, regarding him with a small smile, and then turned to look at Mickey. 

“No smoking in here Hobbit Man.” She scolded, making him raise a challenging eyebrow. 

“The fuck did you just call me?” 

“You heard me, put it out or I throw you out.” 

“You can’t take me.” Mickey gave a cool laugh, blowing more smoke into the air. The girl pointed at the boy standing on the other side of the counter and smiled.

“I don’t need to. Carrot boy will. Now put it out.” The red-head raised his shoulders, shrugging at Mickey, and the smaller boy sighed. He took the cigarette out from between his lips, dropped it on the floor, and stomped it out. “Order something before I beat you with a broom Hobbit Man.” The girl spoke, her face void of emotion. 

“Just make me whatever you think is good.” He told the red-head who nodded and went to work on a drink. Mickey paid for his own drink, and Iggy went off talking to the girl. He was practically leaning over the counter to have a conversation with her. Mickey, in order to avoid throwing up in his mouth, went to the other side of the counter to get his drink. 

“They’re cute,” The red-head spoke to Mickey. The two of them had only spoken a few times since the boy had started working at the café, but he was always trying to start a conversation with Mickey. 

“They’re nasty.”

“You’re just bitter,” the boy laughed, putting a lid on the cup. He stared at Mickey for a second before slowly reaching for a sharpie that was lying on the counter. 

“You try to put anything on that cup and I will personally end you.” Mickey narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t stupid. The red-head had tried to flirt with Mickey a few times, and Mickey had always tried his best to shoot the boy down. The kid’s persistence was unlike anything else that Mickey had ever seen before though. Still, he respected Mickey, and frowned a little before he slowly set the marker back on the table. 

“Can you at least finally tell me your name?” 

“Nope.”

“Come on,” the kid was smiling a wide grin again, “you’ve been coming here for months now and I don’t even get a name? I have a name tag, so you can get mine, but this feels a little one-sided.”

“Look,” Mickey read the kid’s name tag, “Ian, the reason it feels one-sided is because it is. Never gonna happen. Got it?” The kid sighed, leaning back and nodding. “Ig!” Iggy turned, frowning for a second before waving goodbye to the girl and walking towards his brother. The two of them started walking towards the exit, Mickey almost running into a tall man in a large black coat, who was entering the café. 

“Look,” Iggy smiled, throwing an arm around Mickey’s shoulders, which was only thrown off a moment later, “I know you aren’t gay, but couldn’t you at least pretend to be for like 5 seconds next time we’re here, so I can at least get her number?” 

“I’m going to end you.” Mickey gave Iggy a hard look out of the corner of his eye.

“I’m just saying man, you never know where this could wind up going.” Another look. “I mean for me!” 

“Yeah, whatever. You’re lucky I even drink this crap.” Mickey took a drink of his coffee and cringed. It was pretty much black coffee. He preferred his drinks to be almost too sweet to handle, not as bitter as he was. “This crap is absolutely nasty.”

 

-

 

“Yeah, I know I’m just locking up now Fi,” Ian said into the phone. His sister had a habit of calling as Ian was getting off of work to make sure that he got out ok. “No, I’ll be fine. I have a knife on me. It’s ok, you can go. Tell Liam I said hi. I love you too.” He smiled and hung up the phone. Normally she’d stay on the whole time, just to make sure that he made it home safely. It was her thing that she did with almost every single one of the kids. Even Lip, who was well going on 25 at this point. Ian didn’t mind it though, it was nice to know that someone cared if he made it home ok. 

He always made sure to carry a knife with him just in case, but it was never needed. No one was every out in this part of town in the middle of the night. And if they were, they usually paid no mind to the red-head as he made his way to his apartment. It was the same on this cold night, where the only sounds that could be heard were his footsteps on the sidewalk, and the occasional train that went by in the distance. It was peaceful for the most part. 

Ian gave a heavy sigh and paid no attention as he stumbled a little over a crack in the sidewalk. He caught himself, but in the break up of his footsteps, he realized someone else’s were in tune with his, right behind him. His heart sped up just a little, and he gave quick glance over his shoulder. There was no one there. He stopped in his tracks, surprised as he could have sworn he heard the sound of someone walking behind him. 

Almost the same moment he stopped, someone grabbed him from the side, pulling him towards an alley way. He tried to scream, but the person quickly covered his mouth, and kicked his legs out from under him. He fell to the ground, still in shock over what was happening, and felt what was probably a metal pipe slamming into his side. The person was beating him with whatever he was holding, but Ian was too busy taking blows to start screaming or grab his knife. He’d only taken a few blows, but he felt a sharp pain in his side, and he could feel blood welling up in his mouth. Suddenly, as fast as it started, the blows stopped coming, and he could hear the sound of boots walking to the front of him. The metal pipe that the man held was moved towards his face, holding his chin up so he was looking at the man before him.

“Where can I find Mickey Milkovich?” The man asked simply. “And don’t bother lying to me kid. I don’t have the patience for that.”

“I don’t know who that is, asshole.” Ian spat out, trying to look past the man’s legs. If he could just get help, maybe he’d make it out of this alive. The man sighed, reaching for his pocket, just as Ian spotted a figure walking by, the light of a phone lighting up their face faintly in the dark. He decided that if the man was reaching for a gun, he was only going to have one chance to do this if he wanted to make it out of this alive. 

He started screaming for help. The man in the distance paused, looking over at the alley, and Ian’s screaming was cut short. He felt the metal pipe swing into the side of his head, and everything went dark. He managed to get out a single thought of ‘so this is the end.’ 

 

-

 

If Mickey thought winter in Chicago was cold during the day, it was freezing in the middle of the night. He was already king of shivering as he walked down the street, phone in hand as he texted his sister. If he wasn’t concerned for her health, he wouldn’t have gone out in the middle of the night to buy her pickles. If there was one thing he didn’t trust in this neighborhood, it was sending Mandy out into the streets alone at night. She was fully capable of taking care of herself, but if anything happened to his baby sister, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

He was almost to the small 7/11 that sat on the corner too when he heard a scream. Growing up, he was taught to never look, never pay attention if he heard a scream. If you ignored it, you had a better chance of not being a threat. This wasn’t quite a normal scream though. It was the most desperate call for help he’d ever heard, and Mickey almost felt that it was aimed at him. Against everything in his being, he paused only for a moment and turned to look at a dark alley, where the screams went quiet. He wasn’t sure what came over him, but he slipped his phone into his pocket, and pulled out a gun, firing a single shot at the tall figure standing over a body.

It collapsed suddenly, and Mickey started jogging, crossing the street to look for survivors. The person he shot was dead, but the body on the ground didn’t appear to be. Mickey kneeled down, ready to look for a pulse. He flipped the body over, and his heart sunk just a little. The boy was the young red-head that worked at the café he and Iggy went to. His pale face was covered in fresh blood and bruises, and Mickey felt nothing but pain for the boy. He shook his shoulder gently, but the boy didn’t even stir, and that’s when Mickey pulled out his phone, dialing Iggy and Mandy into a group call. 

“Hey nerd, what’s up?” Mandy answered first.

“Chicago’s sperm bank, you squeeze it we freeze it, how can I help?” Iggy answered a moment later.

“Iggy drive to the 7/11 and stop at the apartment building complex. Mandy get to my apartment and bring your first aid kit. I’m ok, but someone else isn’t. I’ll explain when I get there.” He ended the phone call and reached down to move Ian in the gentlest way he could so that he wasn’t laying directly on his back. The last thing he needed was for this kid to choke on his own blood. 

“Come on kid, you gotta stay with me here.”

 

-

 

When Ian woke up, he was practically blinded by a light directly above him. His first thought was ‘so this is heaven,’ followed by ‘heaven smells like Chinese takeout.’ It was when someone lightly touched his forehead with a wet rag that he realized that he wasn’t dead after all. His head was aching like no other, but that was nothing compared to the pain in his side when he tried to sit up.

“Hey,” a girl spoke softly to him, “don’t move. You may have a concussion, so I need you to open your eyes so I can check your pupils for dilation.” He slowly opened his eyes to the bright room, which appeared to be someone’s living room. The girl sitting next to him had her black hair tied back into a ponytail, and her thick bangs hung in her eyes. 

“Where am I?” Ian whispered, cringing at the pain in his throat.

“My apartment,” someone else spoke up. Ian looked to the side of the room, where the boy from the coffee shop stood. He was leaning against a wall, with his arms crossed over his chest. “I had Iggy drive you here after I saved your ass.” 

“Do you know why the dude was after you?” Iggy himself appeared from the kitchen, eating noodles from a takeout box. That explained the smell of the place. 

Ian shook his head and frowned, “He said that he was after some guy. Name started with an M. Last name was something foreign. Miko…” he trailed off, trying to think when the coffeeshop boy spoke for him.

“Milkovich?” Ian looked up and nodded. The man cursed, and Ian was put into a further state of confusion.

“I’m sorry, but who are you people?” Ian asked quietly. “I mean, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful because he was definitely going to kill me, but who are you? I don’t know anything about you.” Iggy and the boy leaning on the wall looked at each other for a second before coffeeshop boy sighed, bringing his tattooed hand to his eyes to rub them.

“Allow me to introduce myself.” He spoke in a sort of sigh. “My name’s Mickey Milkovich. Also known as Mikhailo Milkovich.” Ian’s eyes widened a little, and the words he wanted to speak got stuck in his throat. He paused, looking at the room of people around him, suddenly realizing just what he got himself into.

“You mean… like the gang leader?” Ian tried. Mickey nodded once, and Ian suddenly felt like he was going to be sick.


	2. Two.

“Oh god, you look like shit,” The girl whispered, dabbing Ian’s forehead with something that stung a little. “If it makes you feel better, Mick is pretty harmless unless you owe him money.” That didn’t make Ian feel much better about where he was currently sitting. He was sitting on the couch of a wanted felon. The Milkovich family had been known since Fiona was a little girl for gang activity and murder. Terry Milkovich had been known for being one of the biggest gang leaders in Chicago, but Ian had no idea he had children. 

“I have questions.” Ian mumbled, looking at Mickey, who nodded for him to go ahead. “Why?” Ian asked, his voice shaking a little.

“That’s vague,” Iggy snorted, sitting on the other side of the couch that Ian wasn’t occupying. “Why is the earth flat? Why is there a dragon on the moon? Why is the government lying to us about the moon landing?” Everyone paused for a moment, most likely at the flat earth part of that conversation.

“Why what?” Mickey spoke up, shaking his head a little at his older brother. 

“Why did you save me?” Ian asked instead. Mickey paused, thinking about how he should answer the question. 

“I don’t know.” He gave up, wishing he had a better answer than that. “I shouldn’t have either. But, I did.” Ian felt his heart sink a little at those words. He was trying to be understanding, knowing that a gang leader probably didn’t want to be roped into a murder, but it stung a little. Ian nodded, swallowing the sick feeling in his stomach once more, and spoke again.

“What does this mean for me?”

“Nothing.” Mickey’s answer was much faster this time. “You’re gonna go home, you’re gonna act like this never happened, and you’re gonna live your life. Everything will go back to normal the faster you forget this even happened.” 

“You mean, forget that someone hunted me down and attempted to kill me in an alleyway? Yeah, I’m sure that will be really easy.” Ian rolled his eyes, making the girl freeze. No one was used to people speaking to Mickey with such a forward attitude. It threw off Mickey too, who paused and took a deep breath before continuing.

“Listen, Red. I didn’t have to save you, but I did. If you want to not die, I suggest you go back to living your life before shit gets a lot worse than this. I’m giving you an easy out here, ok? I suggest you take it.” Mickey’s knuckles were turning a faded white as he clenched his fists together. It wasn’t often that someone annoyed him so easily, but he didn’t appreciate the tone this kid had in his voice.

“If they come back for me?” Ian’s voice was quieter now. He hadn’t thought about if they knew where he lived, or if they sent another person. The thought of being that close to death, stopped all attitude he had about the situation in it’s tracks. 

“He’s right Mick,” Iggy spoke up, setting his Chinese food down. “We can’t just send the poor kid back out there with nothing to help him. If they come back, he’ll be dead within minutes.”

“You don’t know that,” Mickey sighed.

“Mick,” the girl turned to her brother, “what would you do if someone shot the messenger?” Mickey stopped for a moment, and sighed, leaning back further into the door frame that was holding him up.

“Kill them.” He mumbled. His eyes looked up, studying Ian for a moment, and mumbling quietly to himself. He turned to Iggy then, quickly. “Ig I want you to do what we did in the Jackson case. Make sure Red can contact who he needs to and make yourself hidden. Got it?” Iggy nodded, and Ian felt even more confused than he did only moments before. 

“I’m sorry, does someone want to explain this to me?” Ian looked to the girl, who was smiling at the new plan. She pulled out her phone and held it out to Ian.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head off. I’m going to give you my number and Iggy’s number. If you need anything, you give one of us a call, ok?” She flashed a smile and looked at him from under her thick black bangs. “You’re gonna be just fine…”

“Ian, Ian Gallagher.” Ian provided hesitantly. The girl’s smile grew, and she looked excitedly at Ian’s face.

“You’re Frank’s kid, right?” Ian nodded, “I’m Mandy. We grew up down the street from you. I don’t think we ever actually met though. Hey, how’s your brother doi-” she cut off as Mickey smacked the back of her head lightly.

“Shut it, the kid is going home.” For probably the first time all night, Mickey’s ice blue eyes locked with Ian’s. “Go home Red. Try to get some sleep, and whatever you do, don’t mention anything about tonight to anyone. I mean it.” He looked intensely at Ian for few moments more, before slowly reaching out his own hand to help the boy up. Ian took it hesitantly and found himself almost excited to get out of the apartment filled with gang members.

“C’mon,” Iggy nodded to the door. “I’ll give you a ride home, ok?” 

 

-

 

“This is you?” Iggy asked Ian as they pulled up outside of the worn-down apartment building. It was only a few blacks away from Mickey’s, but the building looked very different. It was breaking in certain areas, and many of the outside lights were broken. It looked even worse on the inside though. Ian couldn’t afford a nicer apartment on his salary, working two jobs to afford the one he had now. So, he wound up in a building full of drug addicts, and a few nice retired people. 

“Yeah,” Ian sighed softly.

“Hey,” Iggy smiled, looking at him as he unlocked the car doors, “you’re gonna be fine kid. If you need anything just give me a call, ok?” Ian nodded, opening the door. Despite Iggy’s kind words, he didn’t feel much better than he did before. Someone had beaten him and tried to kill him not even two hours ago. Still, he left the safety of the car and made his way to the entrance of the buildings, despite his best judgement to stay with the only people protecting him. 

He made his way to his front door before he froze. His hand hovered above the handle, hesitating on entering his own apartment, when a bang sounded. He jumped, turning quickly until he realized it was only his neighbor, a kind older lady that reminded Ian of his grandma… if his grandma wasn’t a lunatic. 

“Hello dear,” she smiled, waving at him. “Coming home a little late, aren’t you? I was starting to get worried, a young man out alone in the middle of the night.” 

“I was working a late shift,” he spoke softly, trying not to remember what happened. 

“Well, it’s good to see you home safe dear.” She gave a warm smile, turning to her apartment. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight Mrs. Bush.” Ian waved, walking into his own apartment. He didn’t bother taking off his shoes or anything, but rather walked straight to his room and collapsed onto his bed. 

 

-

 

When Ian woke the next morning, he was overwhelmed with just how sore he was. That made sense though, seeing as he was beaten with a metal bar yesterday. He sighed, looking up at the ceiling and thinking over the issues that had happened yesterday. To start, he was held by someone that was most definitely going to try to kill him. Then, he gets saved by a mobster, who takes him to his apartment. Then, the wanted criminal proceeds to help him go home and go back to his life. 

Ian turned to his side table, and pulled out his phone, dialing his sister’s number. She picked up after only a few moments. 

“Hey kiddo, what’s up?” She sounded happy, and if he listened hard enough, he could hear the sounds of the diner in the background. 

“Hey Fi,” Ian smiled, closing his eyes as he felt tears well up in them. 

“Hey,” Fiona’s voice was softer now. She had always been able to pick up on their sadness at the drop of a hat. “You ok? What’s wrong Ian?” 

“Nothing,” Ian wiped away at the tears falling down the sides of his face and he took a breath. “There’s just been a lot happening. I just needed to hear from one of you.” There was a pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a large crash noise and Fiona sighing.

“Hey look, I gotta go Ian. I’ll call you later, ok?” 

“Yeah o-” but he already heard the click and the line went dead. 

 

-

 

Ian was ready to take the worlds longest nap when he got back from work. He was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion as he climbed the stairs to his own apartment and was ready to fall through the door. He almost did too, as he grabbed his keys, trying to open the door. But the door was already open, and it wasn’t an accident. Ian had always made sure to double check his locks before he left. 

As he lingered outside his apartment, a large crash followed by deep voices froze him in his place. He slowly backed away, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was obvious these people had already found his apartment and were looking for him once again. As quickly as he made his way up the stairs, Ian was running back towards them, pulling his phone out of his pocket and finding Iggy’s number. By the time Ian made it outside, Iggy was somehow already pulling up to his to apartment, leaning over to pop open the door. 

“Get in!” Iggy yelled. Ian didn’t hesitate and jumped into the car as fast as he could. He pulled the door shut, and they were off, tearing down the street. Iggy was frowning, his light brown eyebrows pulling together in worry as he clicked something on his phone. When he held it to his ear, he paused for a moment before speaking. “Mick, its me. We got a problem.”


	3. 3.

“Mick, it’s me. We got a problem.” Mickey’s heart dropped into his stomach when he heard Iggy speak those words. He was sitting on his couch, drinking a cold beer after a long day. He had a meeting with his brother Joey over some of the incoming profits they’d been working with. Mickey had been meeting some of his father’s old colleges, trying to figure out a way to up their dealings and finally make a name for himself. He’d finally gotten home after hour of standing and talking over numbers, ready to relax. That single sentence made all of that disappear within seconds. 

“What happened. Are you ok?” Mickey’s immediate response was to be in full panic mode. Iggy tended to not infuse the situation with enough panic for how bad it is. 

“Everyone is fine, relax. I’m on my way over now, and I’m taking the back way. Leave your door unlocked.” His voice was serious. If there was one thing that Iggy was not, it was serious. He had told Mickey not to worry, but his tone of voice did the exact opposite for Mickey. “I’ll be there in a few.” 

The line went dead, and Mickey was left to unlock his door and patiently wait. Instead he started throwing trash away or straightening his tv remote so that it was perfectly parallel with the edge of his coffee table. It wasn’t his fault that he always got to fidgety when he was nervous, it was his mom’s. He remembered that even when he was a child she would clean everything like crazy if his dad was running late. They were never the people to just sit and wait. He figured it was a side-effect of growing up in the family business that they did. 

It didn’t take long though before Iggy was tumbling through the door, followed by a red-head Mickey was hoping to forget about. Iggy quickly ushered the boy to the couch and locked Mickey’s door behind them. 

“What the hell happened?” Mickey asked, feeling more relaxed now that he saw that everyone was indeed safe. He could feel his heartbeat steadying, and he was finally able to relax a little. 

“Someone was in my apartment.” Ian spoke softly. 

“Mandy said you were a Gallagher though. Aren’t there like a million of you? You sure it wasn’t one of the siblings?” He walked towards his kitchen, hoping he at least had some tea. The poor kid was shaking like crazy.

“No.” Ian’s voice was slightly firmer than it was a moment before, “No, it wasn’t one of them. Someone broke into my apartment, and I think it was whoever tried to kill me before. Why am I the target of this?”

“They assumed you knew us.” Iggy offered as Mickey stuck some tea in the microwave. “You had been friendly with us at the coffee shop, and probably figured you knew us outside of that. You shouldn’t be caught up in this, but unfortunately you are.” 

“Next step is we figure out how to handle this without risking your life.” Mickey spoke as he pulled the hot tea out of the microwave He walked back to the living-room and handed it to Ian, who was thankful to have something to occupy his hands with. “I’m gonna do what I can for you kid.”

“Why?” Ian mumbled. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but why? You’re a gang leader, I don’t think that helping random people is really in your line of work.” Mickey pondered this, walked to the chair sitting next to his couch, and sat down. 

“You’re right, it’s not. But you’ve been here and now you’re a liability to me and my family. Don’t take this the wrong way kid but I don’t trust you at all.” He looked at his brother, who was sending him a disapproving look and tacked on, “it’s purely business.”

“Right.” Ian nodded.

“Point it,” Iggy interjected, “now we need to find you someplace safe that you can stay. I don’t exactly trust you to home and I think it would be a bad idea to send you back. I’m guessing you don’t have family in this particular area either do you?”

“No.”

“Right, so I have an idea I think no one will like but I think it’s the only solution I’m seeing here.” Iggy sat back and looked to his brother once more, “We let the kid stay here.” 

“Kitchen. Now.” Mickey spoke to Iggy. The two of them stood up and walked to the kitchen, where Mickey gave Iggy a look that screamed ‘go to hell’. “No. Absolutely not, this is my home.” 

“And?”

“And I’m not giving it up for someone I don’t fucking know. What about you or the guys?”

“I’m basically living in Jamie’s spare room right now. And Joey’s wife is turning their spare room into the new baby’s room. It’s not gonna happen Mick. He needs somewhere to go, and you know damn well that you don’t want him on the streets. There’s a reason you saved him, whether you’ll admit it to yourself or not. You can say it’s purely a risk to have him out there, but he needs something temporary.” Mickey crossed his arms, repressing the urge to punch a wall. 

“Fine. But it’s only temporary.” Iggy smiled, turning and leaving the kitchen. Mickey took a deep breath and followed him. 

“I don’t want to be a burden on you.” The kid spoke the moment Mickey entered the room. He gave a sigh but shook his head. 

“No, you’re not. You can stay here until we figure something out.” 

“You sure?” His eyes were wide, and Mickey wasn’t sure if this kid wanted to run in fear or hug him. Probably both. He should run in fear if he hugs Mickey. Mickey would probably end him right then and there. 

“Yeah. You can stay in the bedroom and I’ll take the couch. And don’t bother arguing with any of this, or I’ll send you back to your apartment so fast it’ll give your ass whiplash.”

“You’ll be ok here.” Iggy took the nicer approach, but Ian nodded and relaxed a little at those words, so Mickey figured it was good Iggy was there. “You can trust us. I know that may be asking a lot right now, but I’ll head over in a while and we’ll check out your apartment, see if we can find out who’s doing this.” 

“Give Jamie and Joey a call, I’ll head over with you guys.” Mickey said. Iggy nodded, and stood up. Mickey took the time to turn to Ian. “You can settle down in the room. There’s Greek food in the fridge you can help yourself to. I’ll be back in a few hours tops. Touch anything I didn’t approve, and I will end you.” Ian nodded in fear, and Mickey smiled to himself, following his brother to his door. 

Ian waited until he was confident that he was safe and stood up. He just wanted to find the room he was staying in. When he did find it, it seemed like Mickey. There were no photos or things on the walls. It was simply a dresser and a bed across from a window with black curtains. Mickey styled everything in case he had to abandon it. That thought made Ian a bit more sad than it should have, but that wasn’t his main concern. 

Ian threw himself backwards onto the large queen-sized bed and took a deep breath.

In a matter of two days his life had become completely and utterly fucked.


	4. four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this update took so long, but i'm moving out in 2 weeks. Hopefully updates will be a lot faster when I get settled into college

Ian didn’t really sleep over night, so he wasn’t surprised at all when he sat in bed staring up at the ceiling as the sun started to rise through the window. He turned slowly to the single alarm clock on the nightstand by the bed and sighed as he read ‘5:03 AM’. He was supposed to be at work in an hour and a half, and he was here. He couldn’t just spend all day stuck in this guy’s apartment though. It would drive him insane to stay here the entire time he waited for the day to end. 

He sat up, intending to stomp into the living room and demand that he go to work at least. He walked to the door and made up his mind as he pulled it open. Then Ian froze. Mickey was asleep on the couch, curled up into a ball under masses of blankets. Even in his sleep he was frowning a little, but he looked more peaceful than he usually did. Ian planned on demanding that Mickey take him to work, but even he knew that the guy got back to the apartment around 1 am. It would be a little messed up to force the guy to wake up now. Plus, Ian didn’t like the idea of getting stabbed if he did wake Mickey. 

Instead Ian turned back and slowly went back into the bedroom. His phone was sitting on the end table charging, and he decided it would just be smarter to text Iggy. The boy agreed to pick Ian up and take him to the café in half an hour, so Ian decided he would at least try to occupy himself in that time. All he found in the old white fridge though were eggs and lots of beer. Sighing, Ian went to work on the eggs, frying them in a pan he found under the kitchen sink. The whole time he was trying not to make a noise. He felt like he was walking on pins around this guy, but that was probably expected if you were staying with a gang leader. 

He did leave some eggs for Mickey though as he slipped out of the apartment and ran down the stairs to meet Iggy. The boy was in his car, listening and aggressively singing along to some ABBA song that Ian vaguely remembered from his childhood. When Ian slipped into the car, Iggy turned to him and raised an eyebrow. 

“What?” Ian paused.

“Mick know you’re running out of his apartment to go to work?” 

“Look,” Ian sighed, “I know you guys are doing me a favor by keeping me safe. I appreciate it, I do. I will not sit in that apartment all day bored out of my fucking mind though. So, you can take me to work and you can choose to stay with me or not. I don’t care. And as for Mickey, he can deal with it too.” Iggy sat back, tapping his fingers anxiously on his steering wheel before nodding, and putting the car in drive. 

“You shouldn’t push him you know.” Iggy mumbled, turning his radio down, which left an awkward silence to settle upon them both. 

“I won’t be a prisoner.”

 

-

 

“You’re late.” Svetlana almost yelled as Ian walked through the door. Her eyes were narrowed to look at him, but they softened the slightest amount when she saw Iggy behind him. Ian wasn’t stupid, he knew that the Russian had a bit of a soft spot for the boy who kept coming back to see her. He also knew that she would string him long for as long as she possibly could though. 

“I know, I’m sorry. I ran into an unforeseen issue.” Ian explained, walking behind the counter to go find his nametag and apron. 

“Why is flirty boy here?” Iggy looked up, smiling when he realized she was speaking about him.

“Well, I had to come escort Ian here, but how could I say no to sticking around and seeing the most beautiful woman in the world?” Iggy smiled, walking to one of the chairs in the lobby and sitting down. At the front of the store, a customer walked in, only to be yelled at by Svetlana because they weren’t quite open yet. Ian laughed as Iggy turned to him, mouthing ‘she’s all woman’. 

“I require you to buy something,” Svetlana was speaking to Iggy again.

“I don’t have any money…” he frowned before pausing, “but I can buy you dinner on Saturday?” Ian’s mouth dropped open. From the corner of his eye, he could see Svetlana smiling just a little, but she quickly wiped it off of her face.

“I will think about it.” Iggy grinned, opening his mouth to speak again when his phone started ringing. Reaching into his jean pocket, he pulled out the small flip-phone and frowned at the screen. He then sent Ian a look that said, ‘you’re in deep shit my dude.’ Ian figured it must have been Mickey finally calling, and his question was answered the moment Iggy answered. 

“Hey Mick, what’s up?”

Yep, Ian was screwed.

“No… He’s ok, please calm down I can hear your anxiety through the fucking phone man… No the kid wanted to go to work… stop it you cant blame him. You’re the same way… Yes, I’m staying here with him the entire time… It’s all gonna be ok… We’ll come straight back later, and you can chew his ass out then… Ok… See you later man.” 

“I’m guessing he didn’t take me leaving to well?” Ian asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Look,” Iggy smiled, “I’m just gonna warn you now to not go and do something like that again. You want to go off and do something, you need to talk to him.” 

“Why is little hobbit man concerned with you?” Svetlana asked suddenly. For a moment, Ian forgot she was even in the room. “Did you two finally end the weird tension and now he is emotionally attached? I have a guy who can get rid of him if you need.” The room went silent and would have stayed that way had Iggy not started giggling.

“No!” Ian replied. “No, he’s just giving me a place to stay. My apartment got trashed the other day.”

“My offer still stands, you can always live in upstairs bedroom.” A while back Svetlana had made the offer while Ian was trying to get on his feet. It seemed that she still cared about it. Ian and her had always had an odd bond, almost like family. She could be his wine aunt… but… with something much stronger than wine. Vodka aunt?

“It’s ok,” he waved her off with a smile. 

“Whatever you say, just please be careful.”

“Its ok, he’s a nice guy…”

 

-

 

“Ian Gallagher I’m going to fucking end you!” Mickey shouted the moment Ian set foot back into the apartment. Ian barely made it inside before he was pinned against the door, an arm holding him in place. Mickey was smaller, but he was a hell of a lot stronger than Ian was at the moment. 

“It’s nice to see you too,” Ian frowned. 

“You can’t just go running out whenever you want asshole. It doesn’t work like that. You stuck both of us in danger because you wanted to be stupid.” Mickey spat. Ian narrowed his eyes, looking into Mickey’s ocean blue eyes. 

“I’m not your fucking prisoner,” Ian spoke calmly. “And I didn’t want to wake you up, that’s the only reason I didn’t say anything. I message Iggy, and he took me…” He looked at the frown setting in on Mickey’s freckled face and smiled just a little. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were worried about me.” Mickey scoffed, dropping his arms.

“Fuck you, I was worried about my own safety.” 

“Right,” Ian nodded, of course.” Mickey looked up and raised his eyebrows in a sort of ‘don’t fucking test me’ sort of way. 

“I have enough to worry about with the larger names in the business.” Mickey sighed. Ian’s ears perked up a little. He didn’t exactly know much about the mafia or gangs, and it seemed a bit interesting. 

“What sort of stuff?” He casually asked, earning another ‘go to hell look’. “Hey man, I’m stuck living her for a while too, I’m bound to find out something eventually. Telling me now shuts me up a whole lot faster though.” Mickey looked Ian over for a small second and sighed as he sat down on his couch.

“There’s a larger name. An anonymous one that’s come up into the system of trade. The whole name is under one initial that’s putting a lot of fucking heat on me and the boys right now. The guy’s buying up everything under the name ‘M’.” Ian figured that would be pretty bad, especially if the bigger named took Mickey for the secret buyer. 

“Oh,” Ian mumbled.

“Yeah. So, the next time you want to run the fuck off at least let me fucking know.” Mickey looked up, his eyes holding an intensity that made the hairs on Ian’s arms stand up a little bit, “Wouldn’t want you getting killed kid.”


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, i'm so sorry this took a while. I've just started college and i'm taking 18 credits on top of working. I promise that i'll try to keep updating as often as I can.

“I need to actually go shopping,” Ian mumbled to Iggy as they walked out of the café. They’d been in a good routine for a few days now, and Ian found he was actually enjoying Iggy’s company. He was an easy person to get along with when he wasn’t working for his brother in a gang, torturing people and what-not. Out of all of the siblings, he was the least abrasive, and could actually hold a kind conversation with Ian. 

“Mickey’s diet of beer, take-out, and eggs not really doing it for you?” Iggy smiled, pulling up his collar just a bit so that the cold winter air wouldn’t affect him as much. 

“I may have grown up in the south-side, but my sister always made sure there was food on the table. Homemade food. I guess I got used to having some sort of meal to come home to. I was lucky to have family that looked out for me growing up.” Ian smiled fondly at the memories of coming home to a mass of people eating and talking in their living-room.

“Yeah, our dad wasn’t exactly father of the year.” 

“I don’t know much about your family at all actually,” Ian prompted. He might as well know something about the people that took him in after everything happened. 

“My dad was the worst person I’ve ever known. Did a toll on all of us mentally as we were growing up. We had a pretty large family though, and lots of uncles and aunts to always be around. My dad’s best friend was my uncle Bucky. He was always kind to us Milkovich kids.” Iggy’s eyes were glazed over, like he was thinking about the distant memories of his family. “I haven’t seen him since my mom died though. He always told us that he did everything for her, like she was the little sister he never had.”

“You mom sounds like she was a pretty great person.”

“She was the best. She loved all of us, especially Mick. She never wanted this life for any of us.” 

“Do any of you regret it? Coming into this life had to have been hard especially if your mom didn’t want you to have that kind of life.” They made their way to the warmth of Iggy’s car, which only provided the slightest amount of heat. 

“Every day.” The words lingered in the air for just a moment before Iggy twisted his key and started the ignition in the car. With a blink, the serious air dissipated and Iggy was smiling again. “What do you say we get you over to the super market? As much as I know that Mickey would disagree, he really should eat something other than take-out and eggs. Maybe you can show him that there are other foods out there.” 

“Right.”

 

-

 

Iggy decided he was just going to wait in the car for a while, so Ian can buy the food he wanted. It was a pretty busy market, so Ian wasn’t too worried about someone trying to murder him in the middle of it. It would be a bad scene to take someone out in, with too may witnesses to risk exposer. All he was really going to do was pick up some pasta, with herbs and probably some chicken so he could make a few different combinations of food. The thought of having an actual meal was enough to make his stomach rumble with happiness. Svetlana was going to end him if he kept sneaking a few of her scones at work.

It was almost as if he was back into his normal life, back into his usual habits walking through the store in search of some food for the week. It was such a mundane task, but it allowed him to relax and take his mind off the fact that he’d been staying in the same apartment as a mob leader for the past week. 

Mickey didn’t seem like he was some horrible person, but he was still so cold towards Ian. It was probably just the way he normally was, but it seemed like there was a possibility that Mickey could be a good person. He probably didn’t even trust Ian still, but Ian couldn’t blame him for that at all. He was a complete stranger, and Mickey was raised in an environment that involved only trusting yourself and family. He wasn’t the type of person to rely on someone else, let alone trust someone else. 

“Ian Gallagher?” A voice spoke, confident yet hushed. Ian turned in surprise, coming face to face with a woman, much smaller than him with pitch black hair pulled into a tight bun. 

“Do I know you?” Ian asked, trying to remember if she was maybe a friend on Fiona’s. He probably knew her through some sort of south-side function. Hell, maybe she was a customer at Kev’s bar and had known his father. That outcome usually doesn’t end well for anyone though, and she didn’t look like the type to know Frank. She looked clean. Well put together. 

“No,” the woman confirmed, her eyebrows furrowing into a strong line. “No, you don’t know me, but I know who you are.” She reached into her pocket, revealing a badge that clearly stated she was working for the government. Ian’s eyes went wide, and suddenly he was happy that Iggy wasn’t with him.

“Ian Gallagher, we’ve received a tip that you know information about a mafia leader in the area who goes by Mickey Milkovich. We were hoping that you could give us some information on his current where-about.” Hey eyes were so intense that it made Ian, who was at least a foot taller than her, squirm in his shoes. This was his opportunity. He could give up Mickey right here and now and probably be placed under some protection by the law. Unfortunately, this also met that he would lose the one person who knew what the hell Ian was truly involved in. And that terrified him, because he needed Mickey in order to survive. 

“No,” Ian mumbled, his voice unsure and hesitant. “No, I don’t know anything about a Mickey Milkovich.”

“Mr. Gallagher, please realize that we can help you. We just want to know about Mickey. That’s all.” She tried to soften her features, but it didn’t help much at all. She was still strong and hostile for her small figure. 

“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really need to get back to my brother. He’s expecting me.” Ian tried. The woman sighed, realizing that Ian was probably going to be a lost cause and there wasn’t too much that she could do about it at the moment. So she nodded, and pulled a small piece of paper out of her pocket, handing it to him. It was a business card, with the name Detective Sophie Collins and a number written below it. 

“If you happen to come into any information that could be of use, do give me a call Mr. Gallagher.” She nodded, walking back in the direction she came from, and leaving Ian standing alone in shock in the middle of a grocery store. 

He was holding his own way out of this mess in his hand. But, it wasn’t really a way out at this point. Mickey had already let Ian in for too long. If Ian went to him now, with this piece of paper everything would change. He couldn’t let Mickey know that the government was on to them. If he knew, his trust in Ian would be gone almost immediately. Ian would surely be back to his own apartment, and that wouldn’t end well. Or even worse than that, Mickey would kill him himself in order to get rid of the possibility of a snitch. People in Mickey’s line of business wouldn’t be too kind to a snitch, and Ian knew that for a fact. Instead, Ian had to keep the situation a secret if he wanted to live and make it out of this whole thing alive. Stay quiet and keep your head down. That’s what Fiona used to tell him when shit got too real.   
So, Ian checked out the food for the week, and walked back to Iggy’s car as if nothing had happened at all. He was going to just pretend that he had a nice shopping experience, and that he didn’t run into any issues at all… let alone the government. 

“Hey,” Iggy sighed when Ian got into the car. “Sorry for the detour, but our uncle Ricky just showed up dead, and Mick wants us over there as soon as we can get there. I suggest you stay in the car and not get involved when we arrive. This one is personal, and that means that Mickey is gonna be on high alert. You don’t want to get in the way of that if you want to keep your head where it’s sitting on your shoulders.” Ian swallowed a large lump in his throat and nodded. Maybe he shouldn’t have kept quiet. Maybe Mickey was going to be the biggest risk yet.


	6. Six

Their uncle Rickey’s house was a run-down little thing not too far from where Ian grew up. It was a weird off-white color, with the siding falling off it. The small steps leading up to it were getting old enough that they were ready to break with too heavy of a step. In the yard, there was nothing in it, but that was usual for the houses in the south side. It was almost forgotten, and Ian could see that without even getting out of the car. In a good twenty years, this place would probably be completely forgotten about, so long as gentrification didn’t get to it first. 

Outside of the house, Ian could see Mickey getting out of a nice car with one of his brother’s; Ian didn’t remember which. It was sort of weird, seeing Mickey in a car that wasn’t Iggy’s, let alone a nice one. Then again, he figured that all of them must have a car with the amount of profits they probably make. 

“You’re gonna stay in the car,” Iggy told Ian s he went to go and unbuckle his seatbelt. Ian, who was already reaching for his own seatbelt froze. 

“What?”

“You heard me. We don’t need you going in and getting involved in this sort of stuff.” Ian knew that Iggy was probably looking out for him, but this seemed a bit much. He’d already been threatened, beat, and stalked. All he wanted to do now was see what they may have been up against. That didn’t seem like too much to ask for in this situation.

“Aren’t I already involved?” Iggy sighed, sitting back for a moment, and turning to look at Ian. In one of his rare moments, Iggy didn’t look like the happy, and light-hearted person he normally was. He looked angry, and scared.

“Yes.”

“So why can’t I come inside?” Maybe it was bit unfair pushing this much, but it didn’t seem right that Ian had to just sit here while everyone else dealt with something that he was already involved in.

“Look, I’m doing this for your own good Ian. You don’t want to see what’s gone on in there, trust me.” Ian sighed, dropping his hands off his seatbelt. 

“It’s starting to feel a little unfair, being kept in the dark all of the time.”

“I get that, but you really shouldn’t get involved if you can help it, trust me on that one.” He reached for the door handle but paused to look at Ian. Of course, he wouldn’t trust Ian to stay here, why would he? Ian sighed, raising his hands in surrender. 

“Fine.”

“I’ll be back in a few. Don’t move from that seat.”

 

-

 

“You tell the kid to stay in the car?” Mickey asked as he grabbed and loaded his hand gun, throwing a quick look over his shoulder as Iggy approached him. He could never be too safe when walking into a location that he didn’t know if it was secure. It was one of the reasons that Mickey had asked Iggy to tell Ian to stay in the car as well. He didn’t want to be responsible for the death of a kid who did nothing wrong. 

“Yeah,” Iggy nodded, “I told him to stay put and not come in. He wasn’t too happy about it, but I think he’ll stay put.”

“Good, I don’t want him getting too into this shit.” Mickey sighed. He tucked his gun into the back of his pants and closed the car door. It echoed against the silence of the neighborhood, sending an uncomfortable feeling up Mickey’s spine. Chicago was never quiet, and when it was, it wasn’t for a good reason. It was almost like a sign of all that was to come. The eerie silence just before the storm would hit. 

“Don’t look now Mick, but it sounds like you had a human emotion for a moment there.” Iggy smiled, and Mickey raised a particular finger at him in return. He couldn’t be a heartless monster all of the time. That’s not who he was. Not really.

“Shut the hell up.” Mickey sighed, then turned to his brother Joey, who drove him here on short notice. “They tell you what we’re dealing with here?” Slowly, they walked up the broken steps to the broken-down house and pulled open the screen door. Every lock on the side was broken off the hinge. A forced entry all right. 

“Jamie mentioned vaguely that he found the body on the bed, but not too much else.” Mickey frowned, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion. Jamie was usually really specific about what they were dealing with, so it was bit odd that he was so vague about the situation or circumstances in which their uncle died.

“Just that he was on the bed?”

“Well, he told me to be prepared.” Joey added on. 

“Prepared for what exactly?” Mickey’s question was answered when they entered the bedroom, and they saw what happened. It was the smell to hit them first. The smell of burnt flesh. The mattress was blackened, and sinking in the middle, where what was left of Mickey’s uncle remained. His body was completely burnt, but not charred with fire. This was an acid burn. Half of the flesh was completely gone, leaving only parts of muscle and bone in its place. 

Their uncle had been completely mutilated. 

Mickey backed up, holding his hand over his mouth while he pressed his tongue to the top of his mouth to prevent from gagging. In the process, he managed to bump into a dresser, sending the lamp on it flying to the floor, and shattering to pieces. At once, every single memory of spending time with his uncle growing up flashed through his mind; for a small moment, Mickey felt a pang of sadness and mourning. This man was like a father to him when he didn’t have anyone else. It seemed fucked up that he met the fate that he did. 

“Tell me,” Mickey turned to Jamie, who was standing over the body already, “tell me he didn’t die in pain.” Jamie looked up, and for a second hesitated before he closed his eyes and sighed.

“No Mick, he was dead before they burned him.” 

Mickey nodded, and in the silence, he heard the front door open. Shoving all the thoughts of his uncle away, he reached for the gun he was carrying, and pulled it out, aiming at the door. Before he could press the trigger, a red-head that was all too familiar came running into the room with a baseball bat in his hands. He froze almost immediately, looking around at everyone in the room, and dropping the bat down in confusion. Then his eyes landed on Rickey, and the bat hit the floor. 

Mickey sighed, motioning to Iggy and Joey to start getting to work as he reached out and placed a hand on Ian’s shoulder. Slowly, he turned him around and started heading back towards the kitchen. Ian was shell shocked, but he wasn’t panicking, and that was a good thing. Most people had a lot of issues dealing with the first time that they see a dead body, but Ian simply looked a little shaken up. 

He sat Ian down on one of the kitchens chairs, and went to grab him a glass of water. “You ok?” he asked softly, pulling a chair to sit across from Ian.

“Yeah,” Ian nodded, but his hands were shaking as he took the glass of water from Mickey. 

“First time seeing a dead body?”

“Yeah,” Ian nodded. “I’ve seen people dying, but nothing like that. Never anything like that.” Mickey nodded, and sat back, crossing his arms. 

“You were told not to come inside.” Ian ignored him, his eyes slightly glazed over.

“I heard something break. What happened to him?” Mickey hesitated.

“From the looks of it, it seems like an acid burn. Most likely done in the bathroom due to the fact that the mattress wasn’t burned by acid at all. The only parts that have been affected by it are directly under him. They burned the actual mattress with fire to throw me off somehow. It didn’t work obviously, telling me that whoever did this isn’t exactly Sherlock Holmes. I’m just trying to figure out if they left something. A clue as to who did this maybe.” Mickey paused, then sat up.

“Like that?” Ian pointed to Mickey. No. He pointed past Mickey, to the wall behind him. Against it sat a giant M, standing out like a sore thumb that could only be seen from facing a certain way in the kitchen. An M? For Mickey. Or Milkovich. Whichever it was, it showed that Mickey was meant to see it; they were all meant to see it. 

“Yeah.” Mickey whispered, standing up and walking closer to it. It was definitely blood, and it was already dried to the wall. “Iggy!” Iggy ran into the room, pausing when he saw the letter.

“Get the photos and clean up. I’m gonna call his ex-wife. She should know before he doesn’t show up at Thanksgiving next week. Ian, you’re coming with me, I’m not leaving you here all by yourself while they clean everything up.”


	7. 7.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of the fact that Gallavich is fucking end-game. I have a new update, and I have a trailer for this fic. I hope you guys enjoy it!!!
> 
> https://youtu.be/38B1KRX_4JE

Mickey practically kicked open the door to the small bar on the corner of the street. It was dark and had a lingering smell that never quite faded away no matter how many times they cleaned the place. Stools lined up at the table, falling apart from their seams; the rest of the place had the same sort of feeling. The bar was known as The Alibi, and it was the southsides best little spot. Ian remembered visiting when his father would go drinking. It was a second home to him for a while. 

Kevin, the bar’s owner was one of their neighbor’s growing up, and Ian was always seeing him and his wife. They were kind to him; they treated him like family. Even now, Ian felt the familiar happiness of walking into that bar. It was the same one he felt when he visited home on the holidays. It felt like home.

“Hey Kev!” Mickey shouted, walking to take a seat as Ian trailed closely behind him. “Two whiskeys for me and Ian.”

“Ian?” Kevin looked up and smiled when his eyes landed on the red-head boy. “Holy shit, you’re back.”

Mickey sat down on the worn stool as Kevin poured him a drink and looked at Ian in confusion. “You two know each other?”

“He’s a family friend of ours.” Ian mumbled, taking a seat next to Mickey. “How’s Fi doing?”

“She’s having a hard time dealing with the fact that none of you guys fucking visit her anymore you ass. You should at least call more or stop by and say hello. She worries you’re all gonna wind up dead in an alley somewhere.”

“He almost did.” Mickey threw back his drink, downing it before slamming the cup on the table. “We need information Kev, and I think you may be able to help us out. You’re able to talk to just about anyone that comes in here without raising any awareness.”

“You’re in danger?” Kevin turned to Ian, raising his eyebrows. “What the fuck did you get yourself into, kid?”

“Look, someone is targeting me. They seem to think Ian is involved, but he’s safe. I have him staying with me for the moment. I just need to know who has it out for me now.”

“You always have someone out for you.” Kevin frowned, pulling the glass away from Mickey and filling it up again. 

“Not like this. This one’s personal, and they want me dead. They attacked my family Kevin.” Mickey downed the next drink faster than the first one. “I wonna know who the fuck is responsible, and I’m gonna make them fucking pay for what they’ve done.” 

“Fine,” Kevin nodded, “but keep an eye on Ian.” Mickey nodded and stood up. He pulled out some cash from his coat pocket and placed it on the table in front of Kevin. Then he turned and walked towards the entrance of the bar, not speaking another word. If Ian felt truly unsafe, he could always go to Detective Collins, but he didn’t feel unsafe. There was something in the determination of Mickey that made Ian feel like no harm would come to him, no matter what happened. 

 

-

 

It took almost a week for Kevin to finally get back to them. It was Thanksgiving Day, and Ian had been held up in Mickey’s apartment since the incident. Svetlana had called, but Ian told her he was sick and needed time to get better before he came back. She’d been reluctant, but she allowed him to stay home. It gave him time to really process what all had happened, and what type of situation he was really in. He even had time to call his sister, and wish her a happy holiday, even though he wasn’t going home. 

Mickey insisted that Ian stay with him where he was safe for Thanksgiving. He was even invited to join in on the evening’s get together and eat with the Milkovich siblings and their families. He hesitated, but it turned out to be a fun thing. 

Mandy showed up first, with too much food for any one person to eat. Then she commanded the boys to help her heat everything up, which was really left to her and Ian. Mickey went off and got Jamie and Iggy, who brought the beer for everyone to have. Finally, Joey showed up with his wife. Ian found her to be his favorite of the bunch, and he talked to her about her child she was supposed to have in a few weeks. 

It was an actual family gathering, and for the first time in the few weeks that Ian had been around him, he saw Mickey loosen up. He was smiling and laughing with his brothers, like there wasn’t a worry in the world. It was odd to see him find joy in anything really, but Ian found himself watching and taking in Mickey’s smile like it was the rarest thing in the entire world. It made him feel a little more at home, something he hadn’t felt since he arrived at the Milkovich apartment. Who knew Mickey would be the one of all of them to really remind him of home. 

It was at this moment when Ian finally decided about what he was going to do. He walked to Mickey’s room, and from there, he took out the card that Detective Collins gave him. He slid it into he drawer next to the bed, hiding it so no one would find it. He decided he didn’t want to call her because he didn’t need to. The Milkovich kids may be involved in some bad stuff, but they weren’t bad people. After all, Mickey was taking care of Ian after everything that had happened with them. 

It was then that Mickey received the call, telling him about the man working in New York that would end their Thanksgiving festivities. Mickey had to fly out as soon as he could to meet the guy that was linked to a similar murder in the past. The first step in figuring this whole thing out. The only problem was that Ian, who walked back into the room, had suddenly been dragged into the situation. 

“Well I can’t just fucking leave him here!” Mickey was yelling at Iggy. “Why the fuck can’t you two take him when I go?”

“Because Iggy is already sleeping on the couch!” Jamie yelled back in frustration. Joey and his wife had already disappeared, and Ian figured that meant he was taking her home for the night. “Just take the kid with you Mick.”

“You’re talking about me?” Ian asked, leaning against the doorframe of the room. Mickey turned to him, rolling his eyes.

“Shut the hell up, this has nothing to do with you.”

“Yes, it does.” Ian laughed bitterly, “Everything that’s happened since I’ve gotten here involves me in some sort of way, and I think I have a right to know what the hell is going on. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I always find out anyways, so you might as well save yourself the trouble and just tell me now.” Mickey clenched his fists, and for a moment, Ian thought that he was about to get punched. 

“I have to go to New York. I don’t need you causing me issues, but I can’t very well leave you hear unprotected for week while I’m gone. Jamie thinks you should just come with me.” Mickey was obviously frustrated over the issue, but Ian didn’t see what the problem was.

“So, I’ll go.” Ian shrugged, “I’ll stay in the hotel the whole time, and you don’t have to worry about anyone coming after me here or knowing where I am. It’s a lot easier than trying to have someone babysit me the entire time, and you know it.”

“Fine.” Mickey caved, making Jamie grin a little. “We’re leaving tonight, so get your shit packed.” 

 

-

 

They made it to New York within a few hours, and Mickey took them straight to a hotel. It was only 10, and they both knew that nothing was happening until tomorrow anyways. 

“Why don’t we go do something?” Ian asked, after looking through each channel on the hotel tv twice. There was nothing to do in this room, and Ian was actually ready to scoop out both of his eyes with a spoon from boredom. Mickey looked up at Ian from the bed on the other side of the room, where he was trying to take a nap.

“Already doing that.”

“No, something fun. We don’t have to leave the hotel. We could go swimming?” Ian looked over at Mickey, who raised an eyebrow with a look that said, ‘you’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now.’ 

“Swimming.”

“Yeah.” With a long sigh, Mickey sat up and shrugged. Ian was a little surprised that it took so little convincing, but it was settled. They changed quickly, and went down to the pool, which had no one else in it. It was late, but the pool was open for another few hours, leaving them time to just enjoy themselves. 

Ian immediately jumped in, making Mickey roll his eyes. The brunet sat on the edge of the pool, and Ian took a moment to just stare at him. He was frowning like always, but there was something else. The room was dark in the late hours, with only the lights from the pool itself giving any lamination to the room. The blue lights were dancing on Mickey’s pale skin, giving him a soft look. Ian could almost feel the breath be sucked out of him. Mickey looked beautiful.

“The fuck are you staring at Gallagher?” Mickey looked up suddenly, and Ian felt his heart speed up just enough.

“Nothing.” Ian managed to force out. “Just wondering why you’re so scared of getting wet.” He knew very well that he stated it like a challenge, and Mickey took it as one. He shoved himself off the edge of the pool, and immediately splashed Ian with some water.

“Fuck you, I’m not scared to get wet, it’s just fucking cold.” He was smiling now, and Ian was a little thankful that the room was so dark. No one could see that his cheeks were turning the lightest shade of pink.

“You gonna let me warm you up?” Ian grinned, and then froze realizing what he said. Mickey looked taken back for a moment too, looking at Ian with wide eyes. For a second, Ian was sure that he was going to either get punched or left in the pool alone, but he didn’t. After the short moment of silence, Ian once again felt his face being hit with water.  
“Screw you,” Mickey rolled his eyes. Ian raised an eyebrow, and splashed him back, forcing Mickey’s hair into his eyes. For a moment, the two sat in silence, and suddenly, Ian was being bombarded by water. He moved closer, trying to shield his face as he yelled in surrender. Mickey continued to splash him though, and Ian finally reached for Mickey’s wrists to stop him.

When Ian grabbed his arms, he realized Mickey was giggling. It was enough to make Ian suddenly think of what it would be like to kiss Mickey. He wouldn’t dare do it though. Even when Mickey suddenly became still. Even when they both realized they were only inches apart in a dark pool, watching thee blue light reflect in each other’s eyes. Even when they both glanced down at the other’s lips, Ian wouldn’t dare kiss him. He wouldn’t force Mickey to do anything the boy didn’t want to do himself. 

Slowly, Ian let go of Mickey’s wrists, but neither of them moved away. Instead, Mickey reached up, and placed his fingers onto the side of Ian’s face, so light that they felt like a feather. Ian was barely able to hear when Mickey spoke over the sound of his own heartbeat.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” Mickey whispered. And then Mickey’s lips were on his, and Ian knew exactly what to do. He wound his arms behind Mickey and picked him up in the water so that Mickey’s legs were wrapped around him. And suddenly, they were making out against the inner wall of the pool, where no one could see them. 

Ian wasn’t sure where this left the two of them, but he was ok to be here in the moment. All he could think about was Mickey’s hands in his hair, and Mickey’s body pressed up against his. Every single thought passing through his mind, as it had in the past few days, always came back to the same person. Every single thought always came back to black hair, blue eyes, and pale skin tattered in homemade tattoos. 

Every thought went back to Mickey.


	8. 8.

Ian sat up quickly, his heart beating out of his chest. From the bed on the other side of the room, Mickey looked from the tv to him. For a moment Ian had t admit that he was confused as fuck about what was happening. Then it hit him. It was a dream. He and Mickey had never even left the hotel room, let alone went swimming in a pool. 

“The fuck are you having a heart attack about?” Mickey sighed. “I can’t even watch tv without you freaking out.” Ian looked over at Mickey, his soft frown falling on his lips. Images of Mickey on the edge of a pool, looking at him with those eyes flashed through Ian’s head, causing him to push himself off the bed.

“Nothing.” He frowned, walking towards the bathroom. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Jesus, someone woke up on the wrong side of the fucking bed.”

 

-

 

Even as they boarded the plain to return home, Ian was quiet about what was really on his mind. Mickey tried to get him to speak about little things at least, but every time Ian looked at him, all he could see were images from his dream. It was like a song that was stuck on repeat in his head. IT just refused to get out no matter what Ian did. He could tell that it was starting to get on Mickey’s nerves too, because the comments he’d been making had slowly started to become snide. It wasn’t until they were getting ready to take off that Mickey finally snapped at him a little. 

“You plan on just ignoring me the entire time that we’re going back?” Mickey finally sighed, pulling the earplugs out of Ian’s ears in the process. He was happily watching the new Avengers movie too, which really made it a fucked-up move.

“First of all, don’t interrupt my movies,” Ian sighed, pausing the film. “Secondly, I don’t understand why it matters whether or not I speak on this flight.” 

“It matters because something is wrong with you.” Mickey pointed out, raising his eyebrows in a way that said he didn’t appreciate the attitude that Ian was giving him. 

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” Ian finally caved, “I’m just thinking ok?”

“What the fuck could you be thinking about that could possibly fuck you of all people up enough to the point that you don’t want to talk?” Mickey smiled a little at the comment. He seemed to enjoy any opportunity that allowed him to call out flaw like that. He especially liked to tease Ian about things like that. 

“Its…” Ian looked up, into Mickey’s ice blue eyes and felt that fluttering return to his stomach. “nothing.”

“Bullshit.” Mickey threw back, the humor leaving his face. From in front of them, a mother turned around and shot him a look, pointing to her two younger children that were sitting next to her. Mickey only laughed and raised a single challenging eyebrow at her. “Oh, come on they’re going to hear a lot worse when they start school, don’t even give me that look. Turn the fuck around before I cause an actual scene.”

“Mick, calm down.” Ian sighed, holding up and apologetic hand to the woman, and placing his other hand on Mickey’s arm. The black-haired boy huffed, turning to Ian before looking down at his arm.

“Mick?” 

“Sorry.” Ian quickly pulled back his hand and reached for his headphones again. If he could just tune out the res of this conversation, he’d feel a whole lot better than he did when Mickey was talking to him. 

Mickey reached out, placing a hand over the headphones to stop Ian from ignoring him though. “The hell has gotten into you today, Red?” 

“It’s nothing.” Ian looked up at Mickey. “I just… I need some time to think about some stuff.” 

“And that involves you blowing me off? Are you mad at me for something that I don’t know about? Because if you’re still pissed that you’re stuck with me, remember that I’m the one keeping you alive here.” Mickey actually looked a little offended, which only confused Ian more than he was before.

“No! It’s not that, and honestly Mickey you’re only pissing me off by pushing this. This isn’t about me living with you at all. Just drop it.” He finally grabbed his headphones from under Mickey’s hand and pushed them back in his ears, despite the frown that was slowly creeping onto Mickey’s face. All he wanted was to finish his movie and to push down that nagging that made him want to kiss the pout right off Mickey’s lips. 

 

-

 

When they got off the plane, Ian’s heart sunk when he looked at his phone messages. He had a message from each of his siblings, especially Fiona. He didn’t even need to open them before he knew what was going on. He froze in his place, making Mickey stop and look back at him in concern. 

“Is it about…” he trailed off, and Ian shook his head. He shoved the phone back into his pocket and frowned at Mickey.

“You’re not going to like this.” He mumbled, walking again. 

“What am I not going to like exactly?”

“I have to leave.” Ian sighed. “And don’t try to talk me out of it. It’ll only be for a few hours, but it has to be me, and I won’t have you getting involved with this, no matter how much you want to.” 

“You’re gonna need to start being a bit more specific Red.” Mickey was trailing behind slightly, trying to keep up with the fast walking Ian. 

“My mom is back.”

 

-

 

Iggy was sitting on Mickey’s couch for some reason. He was laid back, under Mickey’s blankets, eating the food from Mickey’s fridge with no care in the world. He didn’t seem to mind when Mickey walked in either, just throwing a small wave in the boy’s direction. 

“Please tell me that you didn’t kill Ian while you were gone. He’s not with you and I’m afraid you pushed him out of the plane or something. You didn’t push him out of the plane, did you?” Iggy groaned, making Mickey roll his eyes. 

“How the fuck would I push him out of a plane?”

“I don’t know, you’re resourceful.” Iggy shrugged, moving over so his brother could sit next to him on the couch. 

“He went home. Not to the apartment, but to his actual home to help out with a family problem. Wouldn’t let me stop him either. Told me not to get involved with it.” 

“And you actually let someone boss you around?” the older brother laughed, earning a shove to the arm. “Seriously, I can’t remember the last time that you let someone tell you what to do, what the fuck is that about?” 

“I don’t know,” Mickey sighed, leaning back so he could press his hands into his eyes. “I really don’t know. He just seemed like he was pissed at me, and I was trying to give him the space he needed. He was so sure about going by himself to his house anyways; I didn’t feel like it was my place to get in his way.” He was expecting some kind of comment that Iggy usually made, like ‘so when’s the wedding going to be?’ but it never came. 

“Have you considered the fact that having the kid around all the time has affected you? Perhaps you even care about his opinions and feelings at this point? You’ve always been fast to protect him for a reason that I think you don’t want to mention.” Mickey looked up quickly, looking over at Iggy with daggers for eyes.  
“Don’t talk about subjects that you know nothing about.” 

“I’m serious, and you know I know more than you let on. You can’t lie to me forever, and more importantly, you can’t lie to yourself forever. You can be pissed at me all you want, but you know that I’m being honest with you Mick. Don’t you think it’s about time you start to be honest with yourself? Dad isn’t here to try and change you. And you need to stop believing that you need to be fixed, because there’s nothing wrong with you. You need to accept that.” Mickey sighed, but he knew there was a reason that Iggy was the brother he was closest to. Iggy would be straight-up with him when no one else would. He would tell him what he needed to sort out. 

Just as Mickey went to open his mouth to speak, his phone buzzed with a text from Ian. 

‘Meet me at the apartment. I sorted it out.’

“C’mon and get off my couch you lard. We need to go pick up Ian.” Mickey settled for instead, making a defeated Iggy sigh. 

 

-

 

When they pulled up to the apartment, Mickey was surprised to see that ambulance and police were surrounding the place. Mickey ordered Iggy to pull up to the side of the property, so he could see what was going on. 

“Aren’t you afraid that someone is gonna see you?” Iggy aggressively whispered, holding his brother’s arm so he wouldn’t just jump out of the vehicle. 

“They’re more concerned with what’s going on inside. I’m going to be fine,” he bit his lip, looking up at the crowd of people. “Besides, I need to know he’s ok Iggy.” Iggy frowned, but slowly released his grip on Mickey’s arm, letting the boy open the door. Mickey ran immediately over to an elderly woman with greying hair, her face shrouded in worry. 

“Excuse me, do you know what’s going on?” Mickey asked her softly, trying not to let any worry creep into his voice. 

“Oh,” The woman turned and placed a hand on his arm, “I told him not to go back into that apartment after it was broken into. That boy never listened to me, not once. They came back and shot him, right in the lung. The paramedics showed up, but they’re too late. I know it.” Mickey was about to ask who when the paramedics came rushing out of the building with someone on a stretcher. From over the crowd of people, all Mickey saw was a glimpse of red hair, and his heart sunk. 

From behind him, he heard Iggy come up and grab his arm, mumbling something about how they shouldn’t stick around the scene. Mickey only allowed him to drag him back to the car, his stomach whirling the whole time. It wasn’t until they got back to Mickey’s apartment building that he was able to even find an emotion within him. When he did though, it was a ball of anger that he could feel growing by the second. 

“I want them to fucking pay.” 

“Mick-” Iggy started, but Mickey held up his hand. 

“Get the boys. I want whoever keeps doing this dead. And I want to be the last face they see before they die. I’ll meet you in half an hour at Jamie’s. That’s an order.” Mickey opened the door, leaving his brother behind as he went to grab what he needed. It didn’t matter who he needed to make pay, they were going to fucking die for this. 

Angrily, Mickey pushed open the door to his apartment, and went straight for the gun he left taped to the back of his tv. It wasn’t until he heard the crash from his bedroom that he snapped out of the murderous rage. It only lasted a moment before he was cocking the gun, and he was marching over to the door, ready to end whoever was in his room. When he kicked open the door though, he did a double take, because on his bed, in shock, was Ian. 

“What the fuck?” Mickey asked, making him look up. 

“I was going to message you, but my phone died. I was going to the apartment when I saw the ambulances downstairs and I knew what you would think happened. It was the guy down the hall Mick. This is like the third time he’s walked in on his place being robbed. It’s ok.” 

“Fuck,” Mickey breathed, lowering the gun so he could place it down and send a text to Iggy. 

“You’re mad.” Ian decided as the message to the Milkovich brother sent. 

“I’m not.” Mickey shook his head.

“Mickey I can see that you’re upset.” 

Mickey sighed, marching towards Ian, and grabbing the sides of his face before pulling him into a kiss. It wasn’t something that Mickey would normally do, but he just needed Ian to not talk for once in his life. 

“I’m not mad. I thought you were dead asshole.” He whispered, kissing Ian again before the red-head could respond. 

“I’m not imagining this am I?” Ian pulled back for a small moment, “Because I can’t do this again.” 

“Shut the fuck up.” Mickey groaned, “For once, just shut your mouth.” Finally, Ian caved, his hands gripping Mickey’s hips as the two fell back onto Mickey’s bed. Neither of them knew exactly when everything changed, but Mickey knew that he wasn’t ready to give up on Ian. 

Iggy was right, he couldn’t lie to himself forever.


	9. 9.

When Ian woke up, Mickey was no longer in the bed with him, where he’d been all night long. They hadn’t done much, but they laid together, just taking comfort in the fact that someone was laying next to them; that they were both ok. Ian wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t for Mickey to just up and disappear for the day. The redhead sat up, sighing and groaning over the fact that he slept in uncomfortable jeans all night. Normally he would’ve changed, but he was a little preoccupied with the fact that Mickey Milkovich was placing little kisses along his neck. Even the thought of Mickey being so open and gentle was enough to make him smile. 

“You finally awake?” A soft voice came from the doorway. Ian looked up to find Mickey in a hoodie, holding two mugs of what he assumed was coffee. His hair was uncombed and he didn’t have his usual sharp-style to him. It was a side of Mickey that Ian hadn’t seen at all in his time staying at the apartment. 

“You made coffee?” Ian grinned, leaning back into the pillows to relax. Mickey grunted and nodded, handing Ian a cup before crawling back onto the bed himself; positioning himself so that his head was rested back against Ian’s shoulder. 

“I was going to cook something, but I need to pick up some food. Iggy ate us out of our left-overs.” 

“I can always go and pick something up. I should probably stop by the café and pick up my paycheck anyways.” Mickey sat up a little, turning so that he could look into Ian’s eyes. 

“Absolutely not.”

“Mick-”

“No.” Mickey shook his head, and gently pulled the coffee from Ian’s hands. He placed both of their cups on the side table and returned to Ian so that he was practically in Ian’s lap. “I thought you were dead yesterday. I don’t even want to think about you putting yourself in that kind of situation ever again. At least for a while I need you to promise me that you won’t go putting yourself in the position to get hurt.” His hands were cupping the sides of Ian’s neck, and his blue eyes just bore into Ian’s. With a sigh, Ian nodded.

“Fine, but I don’t want to stay here all day by myself.” He laughed, making Mickey smile in triumph and return to his coffee cup.

“You can go to Mandy’s. She’s decorating for Christmas today and I’m sure she’d appreciate the help with the decorations. It seems like something that is perfectly up the alley for both of you.” Ian frowned, sitting in silence for a moment while he listened to the noises of the soft fan and of Mickey sipping his coffee. 

“You know you can’t prevent me from being involved in this,” Ian spoke into the silence, his words echoing between them. Slowly, Mickey set down his cup into his lap and stared at the wall in front of them. 

“I know.”

“Really, I’ve been involved in this mess since day one, you can’t expect me to just have immunity from whatever is going to happen to us. It’s not realistic, and it’s not something I want.” He turned to Mickey, whose eyes were wide with fear of the unknown, “I don’t know if you noticed, but I don’t plan on living my life in hiding. I’m not going to run from this or from you. I don’t plan on going anywhere Mick, don’t you see that?” 

Mickey didn’t respond in the way that Ian was expecting, though after last night, he wasn’t really sure what he was expecting from him. All he did was nod softly and pick up his cup, continuing to stare at the wall. Slowly, after a few minutes of silence, he did reach out his hand though, and in it he took Ian’s.

 

-

 

“You two had a fight, didn’t you?” Mandy was setting down a box of Christmas decorations on her kitchen counter. Her apartment was the kind of place that Ian would have been more comfortable spending more time in. It was filled with photos of her family and little posters that she hung over the walls. It was a place she made her home, and it radiated a feeling of comfort and happiness in it. 

“No,” Ian looked down at the Christmas tree parts that he was holding in his hands. “I don’t think that we got into a fight at least.”

“What happened?” Mandy was being nosey, and it read on her face, but she didn’t mean it in a bad way. She was usually just concerned about her brother and his well-being. Ian was about to tell her too, until he remembered that Mickey and he did more than just talk. She must have read that in is expression though, because she leaned back against the counter and sighed. 

“What?”

“I know.” Mandy spoke softly, “I know about you two, and I know that he’s liked you for a while. I also know that he is anything but straight, so if you’re worried about outing him, you don’t have to. Mickey’s my brother, and I would never ever think of him any differently.” Ian smiled at this, thinking of his own siblings that had accepted him so fast when he came out to them.

“I told him that I wasn’t going to abandon him; that I was going to stick around. Then… he got all quiet and stopped talking until we left this morning.”

“Well, I think you need to see things from his point of view. This is Mickey we’re talking about here, and he isn’t exactly used to people sticking around for him. If anything, you probably just surprised him. Just give him some time Ian.” Ian nodded, feeling that hole in his stomach disappear a little. “Now, get up and help me get this garland up. This place isn’t going to decorate itself and I want to be done before dinner.”

“Do you really have that many decorations?” Ian laughed. Mandy narrowed her eyes, pointing to the boxes of items she seemed to have pulled out of nowhere.

“I take Christmas very seriously Ian Gallagher.” They both smiled just as the doorbell to the apartment rang. “Pizza!” Mandy grinned, referring to the order she placed only 15 minutes ago. She ran off to the door to go retrieve it, and Ian started on unraveling the lights. It wasn’t long before Ian heard Mandy call out to him and he stood. 

“Did you need more cash?” He asked, turning the corner to find only Mandy standing in the doorway and no pizza in sight. “Mandy? What’s wrong?” She was bending down and holding what looked like a piece of paper in her hand. As he got closer though, Ian noticed that this was indeed not a piece of paper, but rather a photograph. She raised up her arm, handing him the photo. Her hand was shaking, and she was white as a ghost. 

“Look.” Was all she managed. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the photo was of the Gallagher’s family. There were members that Ian recognized from other photographs, and in the middle were five small children; a girl and four boys. Each one was marked with a red M. He felt his heart sink into his stomach and grabbed Mandy back to pull her into the apartment and lock the door. It wasn’t until he was already dialing Mickey’s number that Mandy finally spoke up again. 

“How did they get the photo from inside my apartment?” Was all she mumbled as he led her to the couch, so she could sit down. 

“Yo,” Mickey spoke as he answered the phone, “hey is there a difference between corn and flour tortillas? You know what, I’ll just get both. What’s up?” Any other day and Ian would have laughed at the idea of Mickey trying to shop for his own food, but he couldn’t focus on that.

“Mickey you need to get over here, now. We’re ok, but we need to get your sister somewhere else, she isn’t safe here.” Ian could hear Mickey’s breath hitch a little and the noises of him running on the other end.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” And the line went dead. Ian turned back to Mandy, who seemed to be having trouble breathing due to panic. He slowly walked to her and rubbed a hand on her back to try and comfort her. 

“They’ve been here before,” she mumbled to him.

“What? How do you know that?”

“That photo. We each got one photo with mom in it; the only copies of each to exist. That one I kept in a frame by my bed. They had to come in here to take it Ian, they’ve been in my room before and I had no idea.” At this point she had already started crying, and he took her into a hug. If there was one thing, he’d learned over the last few weeks, it was that the Milkovich kids didn’t deserve what was happening to them at all. 

Five minutes later and a loud pounding came to the door. Ian stood up slowly, much to Mandy’s apprehension. He assured her it would be ok and walked to the door as quietly as he possibly could, only to see Mickey through the peep hole. He unlocked and opened the door, only to be pulled into a hug that ended as fast as it started.

“Where’s Mandy?”

“Couch.” 

“What the fuck happened?” Mickey asked as he ran into the next room, making sure his sister was ok. All she did in return was hand him the photo, and the room fell into a silence. Ian could feel the tension hanging on both siblings. “We can see if Jamie or Joey have room in their apartments. Or… maybe we can call an uncle?”

“Wait,” Ian spoke up, “I might have an idea. They would expect her to go to a sibling’s house or family at least. What if she stayed somewhere else that was safe but not expected?” Mickey raised an eyebrow, but he looked open to just about anything at this point.

“What do you got, Red?”

“Well, Svetlana owes me a favor, and she happens to have a place above the café that I used to sleep at when I was avoiding my family. Trust me, Mandy would be safe living with Svet.”

“You sure?” Mickey asked and Ian nodded. “Ok… ok let’s do this.”


	10. Ten.

“I want updates every hour on how you’re doing, even if nothing is going on that day.” Mickey pulled Mandy into a hug. Ian could see how hard it was on him to leave his sister with someone that he barely knew. He was completely placing his trust in Ian, even if it was tearing him apart inside. Svetlana would be kind to Mandy though. 

“I will.” She promised, gripping onto Mickey’s shirt. “And Iggy is gonna come over every day. I’m gonna be ok Mick, I swear.” They held onto each other for a moment longer until she finally pulled back. Her face was tear stained, and her lip was trembling, but she wiped away her tears and stared at her brother with the typical Milkovich confident that they all had in them. It was a confidence that said they were survivors; that they would be ok no matter what.

It was stone look.

Mickey nodded to her though, a silent understanding between the two of them and her turned to Svetlana. She wore a similar look many people in the southside had. The same survivors look. 

“She will be ok,” Svet spoke confidently, “I will make sure of it.”

“She better.” Mickey sounded like a business man, making sure that his profits would be safe. It wasn’t like him to show much emotion, and he didn’t have to towards Svetlana so he wouldn’t. He was trusting her though, and that was a step for her. With an understanding nod, Svetlana placed a hand on Mandy’s shoulder and started to lead her inside of the shop towards her new room. Mickey watched as they went until the disappeared inside behind the black curtains that Svetlana placed in the windows when they were closed. 

“She’ll be ok,” Ian placed a hand on Mickey’s shoulder. 

“Of course she will,” Mickey spoke, but Ian felt him drop his guard a little now that it was just the two of them. “She’s a Milkovich. We’re always ok.” Ian knew that wasn’t true and he knew Mickey didn’t believe it, but that didn’t matter. All Ian really wanted to do was make Mickey feel better about the whole situation. 

“How about we go for a drive?” He suggested, watching as Mickey finally took his attention off the shop to look at him instead. 

“Don’t you think we have more important things to deal with right now?” 

“Yes, but you won’t be able to think straight if you don’t get your mind off of Mandy. Taking a drive could help you clear your mind and let you figure out what you actually want to do. You know you can’t just run into this one Mick, it isn’t gonna work.” He looked at Ian, pondering for a moment as he bit down on his bottom lip.

“Fine. I’m driving though.” 

 

-

 

It turned out that Mickey’s car was actually pretty nice. He didn’t keep it at his own apartment, but at an empty garage. It was sleek and black and was probably worth more than Ian would ever make at the café. It was somehow so fitting for Mickey. It looked as if it was made for him specifically to sit in, and he looked so at home being behind the wheel as the two of them sped down the Chicago streets. It seemed so unnatural, watching Mickey look so peaceful, singing along to Frank Ocean on the radio. 

The two of them were in the car for what seemed like hours until Mickey finally pulled off on a small hill, outside of the city. The sun had already started setting, and Ian was taken back from the view. Mickey had parked them in the exact area where they could overlook the city lights; a place away from everyone and everything. 

“It’s beautiful,” Ian whispered as the two of them got out of the car and moved to sit on the hood, which Ian only did after Mickey said it was ok. 

“It’s where I come when I need to think,” Mickey mumbled, and Ian suddenly realized this was a side of Mickey that no one else got to see. He was letting Ian into his own little world. Ian had entered the little bubble that Mickey had spent years perfecting so he wouldn’t let anyone in. He had become one of the insiders in the world of Mickey Milkovich. Even now though, Mickey was alone with the thoughts in his own brain.

“My dad used to take us to the lake,” Ian decided to speak. He wasn’t sure why but it seemed like Mickey could use something to think about other than his sister. He needed someone to talk to. “It was when we were a lot younger than I am now. Back when Liam was only a kid. We would go up, sometimes with my mom before she left, and sit out there on the ice for hours. He used to enjoy it too, back when she was still there. 

“I think that her leaving broke him a little. He still took us there, but he wouldn’t laugh like he used to. I remember him looking up at the sky and just screaming at it. He would yell and ask why this would happen. I stopped going after that. He was never the same after she left. All he did was drink and waste himself away until there was nothing left but the empty shell of a man who lost the biggest piece of him.” 

Ian looked over at Mickey, realizing that he just told someone something that he hadn’t told anyone before. Mickey didn’t interrupt, but he looked at Ian with a look that told Ian everything he needed to know. It was a look that told Ian he understood everything more than anyone else possibly could. Instead of responding, Mickey reached out, taking Ian’s hand and intertwining their fingers together as they looked out over the city. There was a silence over them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable or heavy, it was comforting. 

“My mom died when I was young,” Mickey spoke, taking Ian off guard. He wanted to respond, but the glossy look in Mickey’s eyes said that there was more to the story. “She was the nicest woman I ever knew. She used to know these big parties and invites my uncles and aunts over. She would dance around the house and sing songs that I couldn’t understand but they were beautiful.” He took a breath, and the world seemed to pause. The wind brushed over them, and the lights of the city twinkled in the distance as dark finally settled upon them. 

“My dad took it the hardest, and I remember he started drinking a lot then. He wasn’t a bad man when he was sober, but drunk he was a monster who beat his children. I think I got used to that for the most part, but he… he didn’t like who I was. He found me one day after school with a guy because I thought he was on a trip with Jamie and Joey. He just kept hitting him. I took a gun and I shot him. Then I ran. I didn’t look back. He lived of course, but he was never the same from what I heard. It wasn’t until a guy from a bar finally took is life that I even went into that neighborhood again.” Ian tightened the grip on Mickey’s hand and realized that tears had started rolling down the brunet’s face. 

“You know what the shitty part is?” Mickey whispered with a shaky breath. “I don’t even fucking miss the guy.” 

“It’s not your fault, and you don’t have to forgive him for what he did.” Mickey finally looked up at that, and it was like he was seeing Ian for the first time. It was over the city lights on a darkened hill that Mickey took Ian in for a kiss that erased the whole world from existence except for the two of them in their own little bubble that Mickey finally let him into. It wasn’t until the two of them had gotten back into the car that something Mickey said dawned on him.

“Mick,” Ian suddenly looked over at him. “What if this isn’t about you?”

“What?”

“You said that your dad wasn’t the greatest. Maybe whoever is coming after you is involved with your dad.” Mickey’s eyebrows pulled together.

“I didn’t think about that.”

“Didn’t you say that you had a family around here? Maybe one of your uncles or aunts would know of someone that would want your dad dead. If they didn’t know he was gone, then they might not even be after you.” Mickey nodded, and pulled up his phone, typing something in.

“I guess it’s time to pay a visit to Uncle Steve.”


	11. Eleven.

It turned out Mickey’s uncle didn’t live far from where Ian grew up. His place was broken down and falling apart in many areas; it blended right in with the others on the street that looked like they’d been abandoned for years. The house was a pale blue where the paint stuck, and brown in the places where it didn’t. The whole thing was pretty much leaning to one side and for a moment it almost reminded Ian of home before everything went to shit so fast. 

Ian walked with Mickey up to the house and watched as he hesitated for a moment before knocking on the wooden frame next to the broken screen door. No sounds could be heard from inside, and frankly it looked like the whole place had been completely abandoned. As they stood waiting on the porch, Ian started to get the feeling that they’d met a dead end when the front door swung open so hard it made him jump. For the smallest second, he was also sure that he saw Mickey smirk a little. 

Standing at the door was a tall and muscular guy with swept back blonde hair that was starting to grey a little. He looked tired, and not at all happy to see Mickey and Ian standing on his doorstep. He looked over the two of them, and stepped back into the house, leaving the door open for them to follow.

“I thought I told you kids not to come back here anymore? It’s too dangerous for you to hide out here when you need it… although I guess your old man is gone now…” The man spoke. His voice was surprisingly soft. From inside, Ian noticed the place was fairly clean, contrasting to the outside of the place. The TV was playing some old rerun of a show, and another man sat on the couch in a leather jacket, taking small puffs of a cigarette. He looked up from under his unkept hair as the group entered and a small smile fell on his lips. 

“I’ll be damned, if it isn’t little Milkovich in the flesh. Thought you would’ve been long gone from the Southside by now.” Mickey rolled his eyes, looking around with a face that said nothing had changed from how he remembered it. 

“Certain things prevented that from happening. I’ll get out when the times right, but I have bigger problems now.” The taller blonde gave a small chuckle and locked the front door before walking to the living room and sitting beside the other man on the couch. 

“Don’t tell me you’re into drugs now of something.” He sighed, looking more tired than he was when he opened the door, if that was even physically possible. 

“No,” Mickey sighed, “nothing like that. I just have some stuff that I wanted to ask you about… back when mom was still around some things might have happened that I think maybe you might know about.” A look of sadness crossed over both men’s faces, and Ian got the feeling that the Milkovich kids weren’t the only ones that loved their mom. It seemed she was adored by everyone in her life. 

“Who’s the kid?” The brunette asked first, his dark brown eyes landing on Ian with an intensity that seemed to run in the family. It almost made him squirm where he was standing, but before he could speak, Mickey was already jumping on the topic. 

“He’s a friend, and he’s fine to be here… I trust him,” Mickey turned and met Ian’s eyes with his own, pausing for a second that seemed to drag out longer than it did. “He’s not really the focus of what I need though. I’m hoping we can make this fast too, I would like to get this sorted out as soon as I can before anything else happens…” The blonde looked up then, his mouth pulling into a straight line.

“This have anything to do with how Richie died?” He asked, referring to the man that had been burned to the been not that long ago. 

“Yeah.”

“Shit… what’s going on kid? You haven’t come here for help since… well you know.” The brunette spoke, and Ian had a feeling that they were referring to when Mickey’s dad caught him with someone as a teenager. He suddenly felt more respect for the two men in front of him that weren’t going to judge or hurt Mickey but gave him shelter when he needed it. 

“Well, this time it’s worse.” Mickey paused, looking down at his shoes before he regrouped himself and sat up with confidence. “Someone’s attacking the family. It’s personal that’s for sure, but they’re dangerous, whoever they are. They’re violent and ruthless, and they left a message for Mandy on her doorstep the other day.” As if by some magic, the same dark look passed over both of their eyes at the mention of Many being targeted in any way.

“We’ll help any way we can,” The blonde nodded, “just tell us what you need to know kid.” 

“I think maybe they aren’t meaning to target me. Ian pointed out that this could be one of dad’s enemies trying to get revenge for something the old man once did to them. Honestly, it sounds like the most likely situation here. I need to know if there was a group of people that every wanted dad dead.” From his spot on the couch the brunette took a long drag of his cigarette and let out a small chuckle.

“Fuck, everyone wanted him dead.” 

“Not like this. This is some serious shit, not just simple drug money stuff either. I’m talking dad personally fucked over someone he shouldn’t have.” Mickey ran a hand through his hair, and it took a moment before the brunette was suddenly jumping from the couch, the cigarette hanging loosely between his lips.

“Shit!” He mumbled, running out of the room.

“Damn it, B, you can’t be cryptic like that!” The blonde yelled after him. Moments later the man ran back into the room holding a picture frame. In it was a black and white photo of Mickey’s dad surrounded by people in masks. 

“Your old man was involved with a group called the Faceless before we met him. He was a sort of power, but he fucked over the higher ups and ran down here. That’s when he met your mom and started his own little organization. If they found out he died, chances are they want whatever he took from them a while back. It seems like a personal revenge if you ask me.” 

“So you don’t know their names?” Mickey asked, taking the photo from the hands of B.

“No, I’m sorry I wish I did. It was a really secretive thing though.” Mickey nodded, looking over the photo once more before handing it back to the brunette. 

“We should get going… it was really good to see you two again.” 

“Hey,” the blonde gave a small smile, “come visit more often. You know our home will always be your home too.” Mickey nodded, turning to the door and leading Ian out to it. Almost immediately after they heard the front door lock behind them Mickey was fumbling to light his own cigarette. 

“Fucking dead end. If that doesn’t sum up my fucking dad.” He finally got the end to light and took a long inhale before relaxing a little. “Useless driving all the way over here.” Ian looked around at the small neighborhood, feeling like he was back in his teenage mindset when he looked over at Mickey.

“Actually… would you mind if we did something while we’re in the area?”

 

-

 

“Ian fucking Gallagher!” Fiona screamed as she rushed out to hug Ian. “You finally made it out to see us!” Ian smiled, wrapping his arms around his older sister as they stood just outside of his childhood home. Mickey hung awkwardly in the background, shifting back and forth from foot to foot. 

“Who’d you bring?” Fiona smiled. 

“He’s my…” Ian paused, pulling back from the hug to look at Mickey. He didn’t want to force Mickey into acting like someone he wasn’t, but he knew that Fiona wouldn’t judge either of them. His family was just like that. Mickey took a deep breath and held out his hand to Fiona.

“I’m Ian’s boyfriend.” Fiona’s eyes went wide, and before Mickey could stop her, she was hugging him too. Mickey looked more uncomfortable than Ian had ever seen him, and this man was a known gang leader.

“Jesus, you show up out of no where and in a relationship? Today really is a good day, isn’t it? Well, come in. It’s just me and Liam today, but I think I can get some food going and you can eat dinner here. It’s been too long, and you have no choice in that by the way.” Ian couldn’t help but smile though as he held out a hand to Mickey and the two of them entered a place, they knew they would be ok in. 

“Ian!” Suddenly, a small child sprang off the couch, running to Ian to give him a hug. 

“Liam!” Ian yelled back, squeezing his little brother into a tight hug so that the kid broke out into an even larger grin. “You’ve gotten so big!” The kid looked up, seeing Mickey and froze, unsure of how to approach him when Mickey leaned down a little and held out his hand in a fist.

“What’s up little man? I’m Mickey.” Liam broke once more into a small and bumped his fist against Mickey’s. 

“You wonna help me build my Lego ship?” Ian grinned as Mickey stood up and suddenly became very serious and determined.

“I. Would. Love. To.” He gave a quick smile in Ian’s direction before Liam was grabbing him by the hand and pulling him back towards the couch. Ian took the opportunity to slip away towards the kitchen where Fiona was looking for a pan. 

“Need any help?” 

“Nope!” Fiona grinned, finding the pan in a cabinet. “You can keep me company though. How are you and…”

“Mickey.” Ian smiled. “It’s good. We met in kind of an odd way, but we’ve been through a lot together in a short while. I think we just kind of found feelings for each other in all of that.” Fiona smiled, looking at her brother out of the corner of her eyes. 

“And you’re happy?” Ian leaned back a little, looking at Mickey from by the counter; playing with Liam and helping him build a Lego set. 

“More than you could ever know.” He whispered, “I feel like when he’s there nothing else is. He kind of takes away the noise from everything else, you know?” Fiona finally let her grin cover her face.

“That’s all I could have ever wanted for you Ian.”


	12. Twelve.

Sun was shining through the blinds, dancing across the arm and face of Mickey, who was curled up to Ian’s side. For the first time in a long time, all Ian could think was ‘I wish this could last forever’. Mickey looked so happy and content curled up on the bed, with almost all the blankets pulled on top of him because he was always complaining about being too cold. His cheek was smushed into the pillow, and he looked perfectly relaxed for once in his life. It had been a while since Ian had seen Mickey properly smile, and yesterday with Liam was one of those moments. 

It was no secret that Mickey was great with kids, as he’d heard Jamie and Joey talk about it, but Mickey had never mentioned wanting to have a life of own one day with someone. He always looked uncomfortable when his brothers would pry him about the topic, but he was so good when he didn’t fret about it. If he wasn’t stuck in the situation he was in, he would make a great father one day. 

The thought made Ian pause. He’d never really thought about the idea of children of having a family with anyone really. The thought alone was enough to make him feel a little sick, but not in a bad way. It was the same feeling he would get before getting on a roller-coaster. It was the adrenaline of something new and exciting, and that feeling scared him even more.

“Stop staring at me,” Mickey mumbled, snapping Ian out of his thoughts. “It’s fucking creepy.” Ian grinned again, pushing the thoughts of a future out of his mind and instead leaned down to press a small kiss to Mickey’s temple. The brunet hummed in response, finally opening his eyes to look up at Ian. 

“Can’t help it. You look good in the morning light,” Ian shrugged. 

“If I look so good, how come you didn’t provide me with coffee?” Ian rolled his eyes at Mickey’s morning attitude, but never-the-less slid off the bed. 

“If I make coffee you need to get up. You have the ability to spill drinks everywhere, and I’m not doing your laundry. Couch, then coffee.” Mickey groaned, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as Ian made his way towards the kitchen. It was only because Ian had started shopping for the apartment that Mickey had anything to make coffee or food with. He wasn’t even sure how Mickey had managed to survive on his own before he’d shown up. Between only eating takeout, and Iggy taking half of that, it didn’t make sense that Mickey was in as good of shape as he was. 

“I think that I should make you a proper dinner,” Ian called as he turned on the coffee maker Mandy lent them. 

“Can’t remember the last time I had a good dinner let alone a proper one,” Mickey mumbled, walking into the kitchen behind him. Ian smiled and help open his arms as Mickey stumbled towards him. They leaned against the counter; arms wrapped around each other as the coffee maker started to make a cup of warm coffee. 

Ian had noticed that Mickey tended to be like this in the mornings when no one else was around. He was more affectionate and made less hurtful comments than he usually did. He almost cuddly and tended to wrap himself around Ian as he went about getting ready. It was a side to Mickey that he wouldn’t have thought existed when they first met, but here they were. 

“Well, maybe a proper dinner will be good for you. Warm rice and broccoli can do wonders for you.”

“Ian,” Mickey pulled back just enough to look up at Ian with furrowed eyebrows, “if you feed me broccoli, you’ll be staying at Svet’s with Mandy.” Ian smiled, pulling Mickey back to him so he could place a kiss on his forehead before he turned to grab the coffee cup.

“It’s good for you.” 

“Just because something is good for me doesn’t mean I want it. Sometimes,” Mickey grabbed Ian’s sides and pulled him back for another kiss, “I like things that I shouldn’t have.” Ian raised an eyebrow but gave in to Mickey. 

After their conversation on his car, Mickey had shifted his attitude towards Ian completely. He was willing to be affectionate, but not to a level that felt like an actual relationship. Now, it felt almost like he’d dropped his walls, and was willing to let Ian into his life. He didn’t feel as cold, and it seemed to Ian like he was finally getting to see the part of Mickey that everyone had talked about. He was seeing the side that only the Milkovich’s had ever gotten to see. 

“Please,” Ian smiled, placing the coffee back on the counter, “I’ve made your life so much easier than it was before I got here.” Mickey let out a short laugh, grabbing Ian’s hand and starting to lead him back towards the living room.

“You’ve made one thing easier,” He grinned that rare grin that radiated happiness, and Ian couldn’t help but give in to Mickey’s little game. He grinned, leaning forward and meeting Mickey’s lips with his own as the two went to the couch. They almost made it all the way before Mickey’s leg caught the coffee table, causing him to fall and pull Ian down with him. 

“Smooth,” Ian whispered as both lay on the floor laughing. If Mickey’s smile was rare, his actual laugh was a once in a lifetime experience. He seemed lighter than Ian had ever seen him, giggling on the floor of his apartment. He wasn’t trying to put on a tough exterior or fight for his life; it was just Mickey giggling over falling on the floor. 

“The smoothest,” Mickey smiled, pulling Ian closer to bring their lips together once more. This wasn’t like the other times they kissed. There was no desperation or hurry in it. It was lazy and both smiled through it. 

“Who knew all it took to bring you down was a table,” Ian whispered. Mickey pouted, letting out another small laugh.

“You’re cute and all, but you should learn when it’s time to stop talking.” He pulled Ian back down, and that was when the apartment door opened. 

"Holy jumping Jesus on a hot cross bun!" Both Ian and Mickey jumped, looking up to see Iggy standing in the doorway with a large smile on his face. “I fucking knew it! I’ve been calling this shit for weeks, and nooo no one believes Iggy. Well guess what motherfuckers? I was right!” Mickey sighed, sitting up and pulling himself up so he was sitting on the couch instead.

“Iggy.” 

“Sorry,” Iggy immediately sighed. 

“You can’t tell anyone.” Mickey nodded. “And stop making bets with people over my love life if you want to be able to have kids one day.” Iggy visibly swallowed by nodded, a small smile still on his face. 

“So… you guys are like…” 

“None of your business?” Mickey tried, making Ian laugh. “Look, when there’s something to tell you I’ll say it, but for now why don’t you start with why you’re in my apartment.” Iggy stopped smiling finally. Every single one of them could sense the change in atmosphere within the room, and it sent a chill up Ian’s spine. This didn’t seem like just a friendly visit from a brother. 

“Jamie called.” Iggy started, “He wants you to come see him.”

“Why?” Mickey’s worried look was already back on his face, and Ian wished that for once Mickey could have a single day where he didn’t have to worry. A whole day of seeing him smile was all Ian could ever hope for him.

“It’s about the anonymous buyer. M? Something about their transactions aren’t adding up and he things that it’s something to do with what’s been going on. He wants to go over the numbers with you and see if we should bring in any of the higher ups.” 

“Shit,” Mickey mumbled, rubbing his hands over his eyes. “Ok, wait in the hall and I’ll be out in 10. I want to avoid letting anyone else know about this if possible.” Iggy nodded, stepping back out the front door and closing it behind him. For a moment, Mickey just sat there before looking up at Ian.

“Duty calls,” He mumbled, standing up just as Ian caught his wrist. He pulled Mickey back for one more lingering kiss before he smiled a little. 

“I’ll be waiting for you to get back.” For a split second, Mickey’s walls dropped again, and that small smile returned. 

“Yeah, I’ll try to make it quick Red. Why don’t you start that good meal you were talking about and I’ll tell you if it lives up to your standards.” He stood fully, walking towards the bedroom before turning around, “Oh, and no broccoli.” Ian laughed as Mickey disappeared back into the bedroom, closing the door behind him, then he looked down. Mickey’s wallet was sitting on the table. Ian slowly reached down, unsure of what he was going to do with it, but he could find out more about Mickey. 

When he opened it, the first thing he noticed was a license. Immediately behind that was a fake one, probably an emergency one. Behind that, a small black and white photograph that made Ian stop. A mother, with dark hair looking down at a baby in her arms. Ian guessed that must have been Mickey’s mother. In the back of his mind, Ian vaguely remembered something Lip had told him, and that’s why in that split second before Mickey opened the door, he put the picture in his pocket.


	13. Thirteen.

The moment that Mickey walked out of the apartment, Ian was pulling out his phone and typing in Lip’s number. It didn’t take long for his brother to pick up; it never took Lip long to pick up if it was one of his siblings. They only time he ever refused their calls was if he was mad at them for some reason, and even then it wouldn’t last long. It had been engrained into them all to look out for one another. Family was all you had on the Southside, and they all knew it. 

“Well damn, it’s been long enough,” his brother laughed into the phone. Ian could tell by the way his words changed that he was smiling, all while holding a cigarette in his mouth. 

“I know,” Ian grinned, suddenly feeling relaxed now that he was talking to his brother. “How have you been?” There was shuffling on the other end and a small sigh. 

“College is kicking my ass man. No one told me finals were going to be constant stress. Why did I decide to go back and get a masters again?” 

“Probably because you’re the only one of us that could. I think you wanted to rub it in our faces. Graduating with one degree wasn’t enough.” Lip let out a short chuckle.

“Either way, I regret it. What about you? Anything interesting happening in the life of Ian Gallagher?” Ian paused for a moment. He couldn’t tell Lip about everything going on in his life, or his brother would drive over and take him home. He couldn’t tell him that he got beat up in an alley or that he got involved in gang business. He certainly couldn’t tell him that he chose to fall for the leader of said gang. What he could tell him, was that everything was going ok.

“I went to New York recently,” Ian settled on. It was true at least.

“No shit.” 

“Yeah, it was kind of spontaneous, and only for a weekend.”

“You get to go see the Statue of Liberty?” Ian laughed this time. He remembered being stuck in a hotel, and Mickey being upset about his meeting. Most of all, he remembered the dream he had; one of Mickey that wouldn’t get out of his head.

“Not exactly. I didn’t do much site-seeing.” This time Lip was the one that paused.

“So… what’s his name?” 

“I didn’t say there was someone,” Ian grinned. 

“I know you Ian. You weren’t site-seeing, but I’m guessing you were a bit busy seeing some other sites.” Ian couldn’t help but laugh this time. 

“If it goes somewhere, I’ll let you know. Until then, I’d rather keep this one to myself.” Lip let out an unpleased grunt, “I do have a question for you though. You remember that thing that you told me about? The one with the photos that Amanda works on?” 

“Uh yeah. I vaguely remember rambling to you about it. You have one that you want her to look at?” Ian reached into his pocket, carefully removing the photo and running his thumb over it. 

“Yeah. I need to make it fast though. He doesn’t know that I took it, and I’d rather put it back before he found out if that’s ok.” 

“Yeah. We’re actually getting in tomorrow. I can meet you back at home? I’ll drive you back if you can find a way to get to the house. It should only take her a few days.” Ian bit his lip, but nodded, then realized his brother couldn’t hear him nodding.

“Yeah, I’ll stop by tomorrow. Thank you. I’ll make sure to make it up to Amanda at some point too.” 

“I’ll let her know you said so. She’s gonna kill me when she finds out I gave her more work. Better make it worth her while. Look, I gotta go, but I’ll see you tomorrow. Two?”

“Two works for me. See you then.”

 

-

 

Mickey came back when Ian was cooking dinner. He was mixing some spices into a sauce when he heard the door close, followed shortly by two arms wrapping around him and a head leaning on his back. 

“That smells really good,” Mickey mumbled. “Why haven’t you cooked for me before?” Ian shrugged, a small smile making its way onto his face.

“If you unlatch yourself, I’ll let you try it.” The arms around him dropped, and Mickey was already moving to his side, his mouth open. Ian picked up small amount of the sauce and rice combo on spoon, and let Mickey take a bite. The sound that came from the brunet was probably enough to make someone blush. 

“Holy shit.” 

“That good?” Ian laughed. Mickey looked at him with shinning eyes, and Ian suddenly felt his heart grow a little. 

“You’re never allowed to leave. You have to cook for me all the time now.” Mickey grinned, leaning forward and pulling Ian into a kiss. It was nice to see a part of Mickey that wasn’t so on edge all the time. Ian almost didn’t want to ask him how the meeting with his brother went, but it was a question that was going to bug him if he didn’t. 

“How’d it go today?” He mumbled as Mickey pulled back. Almost immediately the little worry lines on Mickey’s face returned and he let out a sigh. 

“He’s right. Shit doesn’t add up with the buyer. They’re not making large transactions. Not enough to do anything with. It looks more to me like they just want to be on our radar, and that freaks me out more than anything. I don’t like the feeling of knowing that something is gonna happen at any point. I just don’t know what.” Ian was frowning now too. He abandoned his food in order to open his arms and pull Mickey into a hug. Almost immediately he felt him relax a little; Mickey was weirdly big on affection now that he’d warmed up to Ian. 

“Relax.” Ian ran his hands up and down Mickey’s back as the boy sighed.

“I feel like I just need to get my mind off things.” Mickey mumbled. Ian smiled, and Mickey almost immediately pulled back. “I know that look. What did she ask for?” 

“She just wants you to do some gift shopping with her tomorrow.” Mandy had called while Mickey was out and was more than happy to invite her brother to go shopping with her. She told him that he was welcome to come, but this would work more in his favor if he wanted to see Lip. 

“Why the fuck would I do that?” Mickey scrunched up his face, moving to take more food before Ian slapped his hand.

“First, that’s hot; don’t touch a hot pan. Second, I was kind of hoping you would do it for me.” Mickey narrowed his eyes.

“What do you want?”

“My brother gets into town tomorrow around two. He wants me to drop by and say hello, then he’d drive me back. I promise that I’d be perfectly safe. I was just hoping you would maybe drive me over while you and Mandy do some shopping.” Mickey frowned, pulling back completely so he could rub his hands over his eyes. He was stressed, and the dark rings under his eyes were starting to show. 

“It’s still not safe out.”

“Mick, he’s family.” Those words Mickey understood. Ian knew it was a shitty card to play, but he had to. Mickey knew what family meant, and he knew that it hurt to be away from them. That was the only reason he nodded, agreeing to let Ian go with his brother for a day. Ian smiled, turning off the stove and telling Mickey to get some plates. 

 

-

 

They pulled up to the Gallagher house a little after two. Lip was leaning against a car, talking to some girl with short hair that was bleached at the ends. When they pulled up, he stood up straighter, waving towards Mickey’s car. 

“You said he’d drive you back?” Mickey quietly asked as the car came to a stop. 

“Yeah.” Ian nodded. 

“Text me when you get to the apartment.” Ian grinned a little, knowing that Mickey only wanted to look out for him. He nodded, repressing the urge to lean forward and give Mickey a kiss goodbye. Mandy was in the car though, and Lip was watching their every move, even if he was pretending not to be paying attention. 

“I’ll see you later.” He settled on instead. Mickey nodded, glancing back and letting his eyes fall to Ian’s lips for a split second. Ian paused, turning to Mandy, who’d been to engrossed in her phone to notice anything going on between then. 

“Thanks for getting us both out Mands.” At this she did look up, blowing a kiss to Ian as he opened the door and got out. It was colder than Ian had been expecting, with the cool December air whipping around him. He suddenly missed the comfort of the car that was pulling off and leaving down the street. Mickey seemed to still be on edge every time he was back in this part of the neighborhood, but Ian didn’t blame him. This neighborhood was a pool of bad memories that would hit anyone like a tidal wave. 

“Hey!” Lip called, snapping Ian’s gaze away from the car. “Your new boy toy is Mickey Milkovich?” Ian froze, reaching up a hand to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck. 

“He’s not a boy toy.” Ian mumbled, even though Lip probably couldn’t hear him. 

“So, when I asked if you’ve been up to something, you failed to mention that you’re hooking up with a gang leader? I never took you for the type. Fi know about this?” Ian shook his head, walking closer to give his brother a hug. “Didn’t think so. I don’t think you would be standing here if she did.”

“Look, of all the people I don’t want giving me relationship advice, it’s you and Fi. I’d go to Carl before I asked either of you.” Lip reached up a hand, slapping the back of Ian’s head as he let out a laugh. The girl that was leaning up against the side of the car next to Lip let out a laugh too. Ian suddenly felt bad that he was talking about Lip being shit at relationships right in front of this girl. 

“Sorry,” he smiled, “I’m Ian.” 

“Amanda.” She reached out her hand and took his, shaking it. “Lip tells me that you have a photo for me to work on?” Ian nodded, dropping her hand to reach into his pocket and retrieve his wallet. He’d been sure to be extra careful with the photograph, making sure not to bend or dent it. He handed it over, and Amanda’s face immediately softened. 

“That Mickey?” Lip asked, leaning over Amanda’s shoulder to get a look at it. Ian nodded and Lip’s eyebrows shot up. “He know you have this?” 

“No,” Ian sighed, “So if it’s alright, making this as fast as possible would be ideal. I’d like to get this back in his wallet before he finds out it’s not there.” Amanda’s eyes were quickly looking over the photograph, and a small smile was starting to appear on her lips. 

“I can get it done by next week. I’ll try to move everyone at the studio to get it done as fast as we can.” 

“Thank you,” Ian finally let out a breath. “This means a lot to me, and I know it’ll mean a lot to Mickey too.” Lip was looking over his face with an intense gaze that made it hard to not squirm under. 

“You really like him, don’t you?” 

“I really do.”

“He feels the same way about you?” Ian thought back to when he first met Mickey. Mickey who saved him from someone in an alley. Mickey who took Ian in without putting up too much of a fight. Mickey who took Ian to New York and always made Ian’s safety a priority. Mickey who kissed him like the world was ending when he thought Ian wasn’t ok. Mickey who liked his coffee with more sugar than he’d ever let on. Mickey who likes his eggs over-easy and falls asleep after laying down for only ten minutes. Mickey who’d told him that he knew where he stood when it came to Ian, and who looked at him like maybe everything was going to be ok. Mickey who he thinks that maybe, just maybe, he was starting to love. 

“Yeah,” Ian breathed, “I think he does.” 

“Good,” Lip nodded. “Now let’s get inside before Fiona thinks that we’re avoiding her.” 

 

-

 

Mickey was almost certain that Christmas shops were made to taunt him. It was bright and cheerful, and always had bad music; it was everything that Mickey hated in this world. Mandy couldn’t stop smiling though, so maybe it wasn’t too bad. 

“So,” she grinned, leading Mickey to the back of the store where the weirder presents were, “I’ve been wondering something. Things have changed between you and Ian, haven’t they?” She was grinning even wider now, and Mickey was certain that her face was going to break. 

“Why?” 

“It’s just something me and Iggy talked about.” She whispered, and Mickey’s eyebrows flew up.

“He told you?!” He whispered, and her eyes went wide. 

“He didn’t tell me shit! He knew?!” She reached out, punching Mickey on his arm. “You didn’t think to tell me that you and Ian were a thing? Iggy knows though. Don’t tell me that Joey and Jamie know too.” Mickey groaned, rubbing his arm where she hit him. 

“He’s only known for a little while. And no one else knows. The point was to keep it on the downlow, but you all have no concept of personal space, and tend to walk into my apartment without even knocking. Also, I told Iggy he couldn’t say anything to any of you.” Mandy still looked pissed, but her eyes softened a little. 

“You’re happy with him?” Her voice didn’t hold any of the same frustration as the moment before.

“Yeah,” Mickey mumbled, “I am.” 

“Fucking finally!” Mandy yelled, making Mickey wish he hadn’t said anything to her about their relationship. She was grinning again though, and for once Mickey couldn’t help but smile himself. He was happy. He hadn’t thought about it until now, but something about Ian made Mickey almost excited to wake up every morning. 

“Yeah, yeah, shut it will you.” 

“So…” Mandy whispered, making Mickey stop because he had a feeling he knew where this conversation was headed, and he really wasn’t happy about it.

“So, what…”

“Have you two…” 

“First,” Mickey held up a finger, “you’re my sister and I’m not going to talk to you about my sex life. Second, no, we haven’t.” Mandy stopped in shock.

“Really? Damn Mick you must have it bad for this guy. I don’t blame you though, I think Ian is a catch. If he was straight, I’d be all over that. Climb that boy like a tree.” She mumbled the last part more to herself, but it made Mickey laugh never-the-less. 

“Please don’t talk about climbing my boyfriend like a tree.” 

“Boyfriend?” Mandy actually stopped laughing now. Mickey did too. He didn’t mean to say that, but it felt so natural sliding off his tongue. He hadn’t even thought about what the two of them were until now. 

“I guess so,” Mickey shrugged, “I mean… I think we’re essentially dating.” Mandy nodded, biting her lip to keep her smile from growing too big. Mickey stopped then, looking around with wide eyes. “Shit, I have to get him something right? That’s what people in relationships do?”

“Yeah.” Mandy nodded slowly. She placed a hand on Mickey’s shoulder, trying to stop him from freaking out too much. “I’ll help you. I saw a photo of some soldiers when we were coming in, and I remember him wanting to enlist when we were in school. You could give him that. I’ll go get it and meet you at the register.” 

“Thanks,” Mickey let out a sigh of relief. He was really bad about giving people anything that had to do with presents. He once gave Mandy a voucher for a massage, only for her to show up and discover it was for couples and they were definitely on something. After that, Mickey had stuck to giving gift cards. Ian was different though. He was someone that Mickey wanted to be around all of the time. He wanted to make Ian smile, and make him laugh. He wanted a relationship, and that hit him like a ton of bricks. Mickey actually wanted to be with someone. 

He couldn’t help but smile as he made his way to the front of the store, pulling out his wallet. Mandy had already walked to the front and began arguing with the cashier about prices of the picture. Mickey sighed, reaching for his credit card when he paused. His card had slipped out of place, which never happened because Mickey had stuffed his wallet full enough that nothing ever moved. He pulled out his card, moving each item back into place when he felt his stomach drop and his body run cold. 

“Mands,” he called. “We need to go home.” Mandy turned, confusion crossing over her face, because she was definitely working the price of the photo down.

“What?”

“It’s not here,” Mickey mumbled, looking through his wallet one more time. 

“What’s not?”

“Mom’s photo.”


End file.
